


Kingsroad

by HadiesStar



Category: Kingsroad, Magic: The Gathering, Video Games - Fandom, World of Warcraft, gaming - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 00:09:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13868916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HadiesStar/pseuds/HadiesStar
Summary: As the final battle of good versus evil approaches, Mosspath, an archer, decides that she needs to destroy the inter-dimensional globe with a rip of space time continuum inside. She knows the consequences and they are harsh but to save mankind she must…





	1. Beginning

“The princess needs saving!” announced a terrified villager.  
“Again!?” grumbled HadiesStar. “I literally died and came back from my namesake for the first one and all we got was some cake and ale for our mana.”  
“What is her name this time?” asked DarkSkies.  
“Elizabeth,” the villager answered.  
“Who do we have to fight now?” asked DarkSkies.  
“And why?” Mosspath pointed out reasonably. “Why do we have to now? We are all low on resources and out of battle training.”  
“His name is-” the villager cut in.   
“What?!? What is his name?” demanded HadiesStar.  
“His name is Zadimus Bloodgod!” answered the terrified villager, voice filled with terror. “Please, we need your help!”  
“Okay fine, let’s go.” DarkSkies got up. “Come on, let’s go to the church, I bet we can find Father Byron there.”  
They walked to the church, stopping here and there to buy some food and ale. “We really need some more change,” commented Mosspath. HadiesStar nodded in agreement.  
As they approached the church, they could tell something was wrong. The lights were out, which never happens, even at night. They ran in, and looked around. Father Byron was nowhere to be seen.   
“Hey, guys?” commented Mosspath, pointing to a door. “Is that usually open?”  
“No,” answered HadiesStar, running to the door. They looked inside, and saw a well lit room with a cot on the side. In that it was Father Byron.  
“Um…” inquired Mosspath tentatively, “we have come for guidance. It’s about Zadimus Bloodgod”  
“Don't speak his name!” pleaded Father Byron, cowering in his bed, “It was he who put me here.”  
“Do you need help?” asked DarkSkies.  
“No,” answered Father Byron.  
“Where should we go to find him?”  
Father Byron pointed weakly. “Legend says the Titans made their home in the south, before they were all killed by the one you seek.”  
“Great,” muttered HadiesStar sarcastically. “Just what we want, someone who could take on the Titans and win, in their home turf.”  
“Who was his apprentice, again?” Mosspath wondered aloud.  
“I never mentioned an apprentice.” Father Byron said, “don't tell me you know him?”  
“No no no, I forgot to say I could tell the future, but it only happens on rare occasions,” Mosspath answered quickly.  
“Be careful,” warned Father Byron. “With great power comes great danger and responsibility.”  
“Great,” HadiesStar muttered sarcastically. “There has already been a reference to Mario, so now we need a reference to Zelda, Frozen, and about every single Spider-man movie ever made.”  
“You want that, you get that. ‘Let it go and calm down,’” replied DarkSkies.  
“Come on everybody, let’s go,” urged Mosspath.  
* * *  
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” boomed a deep, dark, chuckling voice.  
They had arrived in the Titan’s old home, which looked like a plane crash. broken weapons and metal were strewn everywhere, with fires burning on some of the trees.  
“Well, I thought you’d be scarier,” HadiesStar laughed. “How can we fight someone that looks like a magical robot shaped like a cloud?”  
”How dare you offend me!? I defeated the Titans eons ago!”  
“Emphasis on EONS ago,” agreed DarkSkies. “You should lose some weight too.”  
“I will kill you all!” roared Zadimus Bloodgod, swatting at HadiesStar.  
“Nooo!” Everything was in slow motion for DarkSkies, he already lost his father and his brother betrayed him, he can’t lose his best friend too.  
He saw HadiesStar get up and was relieved. HadiesStar yelled, “FOR SPARTA!” and charged.  
“Um, bro this ain't Sparta,” replied DarkSkies, hesitantly.  
“I really couldn’t care less,” answered HadiesStar, dodging another attack from the giant and blasting him with flames.  
“Guys, shouldn't we concentrate on our main goal here?” cut in Mosspath, shooting the giant in the face with an exploding arrow, while jumping onto NightStar’s back and took off into the sky. “We need to kill him before he harms anyone or anything else,” she shouted from the air.  
Furrocious was waiting for his signal and DarkSkies called it. The signal was “Furrocious, want some frosting?” and he liked it that way because he was ready to do anything for frosting, even kill some monsters. NightStar soared higher, while Mosspath shot arrows at Bloodgod from above.  
HadiesStar called on his dragon, HallowFire, and saw, with relief that it worked almost immediately. He ran to his pitch black mount and jumped on.  
“Wait, guys, where did Bloodgod go?” asked Mosspath, alighting to the ground after noticing that he was gone.  
“No! He disappeared when HadiesStar took his eyes off him,” DarkSkies groaned.  
“It’s not my fault!” HadiesStar protested.  
“Yes it is,” argued DarkSkies  
“No,” Mosspath broke in, “It was both of your faults.”  
“No, it was DarkSkies’s fault cause Furrocious smelled frosting and ran away,” accused HadiesStar.  
“Guys, stop,” interrupted Mosspath, “This is his tactic and how he defeated the Titans, he drove them apart by putting blame on each one of them.”  
“Fine,” muttered HadiesStar and DarkSkies together. “I’ll kill you later,” said HadiesStar.  
“No you won’t because Mosspath won’t let you kill me or me kill you.” said DarkSkies.  
“Hmph,” HadiesStar grunted.  
Mosspath remembered Father Byron saying, ’Here’s a map to guide you on your quest.’ Father Byron gave Mosspath the map, knowing she was the most responsible. She took it out.  
“Lead the way,” HadiesStar commanded.


	2. Enemy Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Literally idk enjoy

“According to the map we should be almost there,” Mosspath announced.  
“I don’t see a rock shaped like a banana,” DarkSkies responded.  
“It’s a crescent, idiot,” Mosspath snapped.  
“Guys, I think I found it,” HadiesStar interrupted.  
The trio went into the clearing and found the rock shaped like a crescent.   
“Isn’t Zadimus Bloodgod’s apprentice, Wizshark, supposed to be here?” HadiesStar wondered.  
“Welcome friends, I’ve been expecting your visit for some time now and my orders from Zadimus Bloodgod are to destroy you,” threatened a deep voice from behind the rock. “CLAW, ATTACK THESE FOOLS!” Wizshark ordered.  
“Furrocious, want some frosting?” yelled DarkSkies.  
Furrocious attacked Claw, and then Wizshark taunted, “Frosting? How about some ICING?” and shot ice at Furrocious, freezing the ground and making him slide into a tree.  
“MRROW!” yelped Furrocious.  
“How dare you do that to him!” DarkSkies cried wretchedly.  
“I dare because soon, you and your friends will be destroyed,” Wizshark warned, “And my Master will rule this wretched kingdom as his own! I’ll also kill you for thinking you could catch my master, you insolent fools!” Then, he struck a bolt of lightning towards the group. Then the lightning bolt broke into several smaller bolts to electrocute them all.  
“Guys, I’m on low health right now,” HadiesStar told them.  
“Eat something,” replied Mosspath promptly.  
“I have no food,” HadiesStar returned dryly.  
“Why not?” inquired DarkSkies.  
Before HadiesStar could respond, he was blasted by a bolt of lightning and died.  
“Dang it, I have two lives now,” yelled HadiesStar.  
“It’s your fault for not being prepared,” Mosspath retorted.  
“Whatever, Furrocious ate my food,” HadiesStar muttered.  
“Denial,” Mosspath whispered to DarkSkies within earshot of HadiesStar.  
“I heard that,” HadiesStar shot back, sharply.  
“Keep fighting, please. It’s very entertaining, but unfortunately I have to kill you now,” interrupted Wizshark, summoning a fire drake.  
“Not today!” roared HadiesStar and attacked. HadiesStar banged Wizshark in the chest then hit him in the face with the end of his staff and Wizshark lit up in a great, bright, brilliant light. It was the light of something turning evil to good.  
“I feel better now.” Wizshark got up. “I feel good.”  
“HadiesStar beat you up so badly you turned from evil to good, it’s his fire magic,” Mosspath explained.  
“HadiesStar gave you a whupping, I wasn’t surprised you got changed,” DarkSkies added.  
“Well, I guess you can join our guild,” suggested Mosspath.  
“I guess I can,” replied Wizshark. “If you guys can forgive me for what I’ve done.”  
“Forgive and forget, but only if you give HadiesStar some food and ale,” Mosspath offered.  
“Fine,” whined Wizshark. “But only if you patch Claw up because Furrocious slashed him.”  
“Fine, but only if-,” DarkSkies was cut off.  
“Enough with the only if’s, ok?” HadiesStar interrupted. “But that food and ale would be nice right about now.”  
“Guys, let’s be smart and focus on our real goal: finding and killing Zadimus Bloodgod,” interrupted Mosspath.  
“Good luck with that,” mumbled Wizshark.  
“SO, YOU WANT TO FIND ME?” Zadimus Bloodgod had crept up behind them without noticing.  
“Yeah, that would be nice.” HadiesStar got a fire spell ready. “It’s about time you stopped hiding behind your servants.”  
“Traitor, that’s what you are, Wizshark, don’t you want to see your family again?” Zadimus Bloodgod sneered.  
“My family is gone and you can not bring them back,” Wizshark retorted hotly. “You lied to me!” He sent a million shards of ice flying around himself, and charged, using the shards as armor. HadiesStar sent a bolt of white hot fire straight at his face, while Mosspath jumped on her black feathered mount, NightStar, and took off into the air, shooting another exploding arrow at him. It finally looked like things would go right this time  
Suddenly, a portal appeared right in front of the arrow, sending it flying at DarkSkies. The fireball was deflected towards Wizshark, melting his defenses.  
“Oh, dang it,” muttered Wizshark and DarkSkies, as they both have to deal with an ultra hard attack coming their way, without their defences up at all.  
Furrocious dove in the arrow’s way but survived.  
“How did that happen?” asked HadiesStar.  
“I have an underworld spawn, fools!” bellowed Zadimus Bloodgod. “Nothing can stop me!”  
“Except your looks,” taunted HadiesStar  
“Furrocious is invincible!” shouted DarkSkies across the battlefield. “It’s that simple!”  
“Charge!” yelled Wizshark to Claw.  
That was another bad idea, as another portal appeared in front of Claw and sent all of Claw’s body onto HallowFire, sending them both crashing to the ground.  
Zadimus Bloodgod disappeared through a portal to the underworld  
“Oh no, we lost him again,” HadiesStar fretted.  
“Don’t worry, if we can defeat all his minions, he will be weakened,” Mosspath encouraged.  
“Well, in that case I will find them, and I will kill them!” HadiesStar boasted arrogantly.  
“Leave some of them for me too!” piped up DarkSkies.


	3. Hunt For the Underworld

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger and a power that is never used again

“We need to find the entrance to the underworld,” Mosspath declared after the confrontation.  
“Okay, that’s easy,” remarked HadiesStar. “Look, right here on the map, there is a place called DOA recording studios, and Father Byron marked it with the translation of DOA: Dead On Arrival. Where can we find death? Obviously here,”  
“Hey HadiesStar! That was actually a smart statement for once,” commented Wizshark.  
“Along with a reference to Percy Jackson…” muttered Mosspath  
“Thank you,” HadiesStar responded dryly.  
“If we’re correct about where to go, then we probably will have to face an army of Underworld demons,” remarked DarkSkies.  
“How did you know what I was thinking,” asked Mosspath.  
“I can read minds, remember?” DarkSkies reminded.  
“Oh, okay, sorry, I forgot,” mumbled Mosspath.  
“Hurry up, we don’t have all day!” shouted Wizshark.  
“WE NEED TO FIND THE ENTRANCE TO THE UNDERWORLD!” Mosspath yelled.  
“Calm down,” chided DarkSkies. “The entrance to the Underworld isn’t going to go anywhere, but let’s go.”  
“Lead the way,” said HadiesStar mockingly, “Oh holy leader!”  
“I am the leader!” yelled DarkSkies.  
“Who's yelling now,” Mosspath sneered.  
A large, dark, threatening shadow loomed over them as the guild bickered. “ATTACK, UNDERWORLD DEMONS!” Zadimus Bloodgod had snuck up on them while they argued and bickered amongst themselves. A large army of underworld demons rushed in from a pit in the ground and came upon them.  
“Dang it,” muttered HadiesStar, firing bolt of fire after bolt of fire into a crowd of imps.  
“Furrocious, want some frosting?” yelled DarkSkies, slashing and hacking as the Furies came out of the pit, baring their fangs and slashing their flaming whips in the air.  
“HadiesStar!” yelled Mosspath. “Show them the Mark of Hades!”  
“How did you know I had that?” HadiesStar shouted back across the battlefield.  
“I can tell the future, idiot! You were eventually gonna show it.” Mosspath shouted back at him.  
“Okay, sorry, I forgot!” yelled HadiesStar, whipping back his sleeve to show a black mark, shaped like a helmet, burned into his skin. The furies yelped and flew back into the pit, their bat wings flapping like crazy as they descended. The lesser monsters just vaporized on the spot.  
“I think that worked,” Wizshark murmured weakly. HadiesStar looked around, all his friends were showing a different form of fear, Mosspath had her bow raised cautiously, waiting to shoot, DarkSkies had his legs tensed, ready to run.  
“Um, okay. Now you know why I wear long sleeved shirts and how I got my name,” said HadiesStar uncomfortably, tucking his sleeve back down. “What next?” he asked, trying to change the subject. Mosspath could sense he didn't want to talk about his mark.  
“I think we should work out where to go on the map,” Mosspath reasoned. “And find out how Zadimus Bloodgod keeps following and finding us and where they came from.”  
“What do we have here?” boomed Zadimus Bloodgod.  
“Shoot, I forgot he was here,” said HadiesStar.  
“Well, that hurts,” replied Zadimus Bloodgod dryly. “I was going to sneak up on you and kill you, but I wouldn’t have heard your agonizing screams.”  
“I don’t scream,” muttered HadiesStar.  
DarkSkies snuck up on HadiesStar and yelled, “BOO!”  
“GAH!” yelped HadiesStar. “Why did you do that?”  
“I was testing you,” responded DarkSkies. “To see if you would scream, which you did.”  
“No, I didn’t,” HadiesStar answered. “I didn’t scream, I yelped.”  
“Same thing,” muttered DarkSkies.  
“Guys, he’s gone, again,” Mosspath told them.  
“I think he left the Underworld,” replied Wizshark.  
“How do you know?’’ asked Mosspath.  
“I just know it!” yelled Wizshark.  
“Dude, calm down,” HadiesStar chided, “Where is he then?”  
“I think we have to go south. Where the Titans once lived.” Wizshark pointed south, where Father Byron pointed. “He might have another lair over there.”  
“Okay.” HadiesStar replied. “Let’s go, lead the way.” he added to Wizshark  
The guild traveled south, towards where Father Byron pointed out to them.  
“I think we should have found his other lair by now,” Mosspath declared, hesitantly.  
“Well, you have the map so you should know where to go,” HadiesStar pointed out. “We don’t even know where we are!”  
“If you’re so smart, why don’t you figure out the way?” Mosspath shoved the map into HadiesStar’s face.  
“Fine.” HadiesStar grabbed the map from Mosspath. “Let’s see. Wait, where are we?”  
“We’re right here,” Mosspath pointed the mark Father Byron marked with DOA: Dead On Arrival. “I think that in that case, I should figure out where is the way to go,” Mosspath snatched back the map and pointed to a spot. “We’re going this way.”  
They kept traveling south until they found a large tree.  
“Isn’t Shadow supposed to be here?” asked HadiesStar.  
“She should be right-GAH!” yelped Mosspath.


	4. Second Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama over nothing, and a character that seems powerful but odds are nothing happens

“ARE YOU LOOKING FOR ME?” boomed a voice that they had heard, all too often.  
Zadimus Bloodgod appeared, holding a passed out mage.  
“Well, you found me! More like… I FOUND YOU! ATTACK THESE FOOLS!” he screamed, throwing the mage to the ground.  
“Attack!” HadiesStar ordered and they met the onslaught of enemies.  
“FURRICIOUS, WANT SOME FROSTING!?” DarkSkies yelled. “HOW ABOUT SOME ICING, TOO!?” Wizshark added. He shot ice at Zadimus Bloodgod freezing him momentarily until Zadimus Bloodgod roared and shattered the ice, swatting at his former apprentice, “TRAITOR, WIZSHARK, TRAITOR!”  
Furricious attacked with Claw and they began to claw and scratch at their enemies. Mosspath leaped onto NightStar and shot flaming arrows that exploded from above. HadiesStar called on HallowFire, his dragon, and shot fire at Zadimus Bloodgod’s army of demons and furies. But, Zadimus Bloodgod and his army were too overpowering for them so the group was forced to retreat. They retreated to a cave near the mountain, dragging the passed out mage with them, and they rested, ate, and drank ale for a few moments.   
“We need to strategize on how we are going to stop Zadimus Bloodgod,” Mosspath suggested.  
“We’re lucky we survived!” added HadiesStar.  
“Wait, where is Claw?” asked Wizshark.  
“Sparta,” joked DarkSkies.  
“Not the time for jokes!” snapped Mosspath. “We need to treat the mage.”  
“I don’t like being called the mage!” Shadow protested weakly.  
“Too bad,” HadiesStar shrugged unsympathetically, giving Shadow a mysterious yellow drink. “Drink this, but not too much. When you are getting a little warm, stop drinking”.  
“What is that?” asked Mosspath. “Firewater?”  
“No,” responded HadiesStar. “It’s the nectar of the gods. Only mages can drink it because our bodies are naturally one third mana. This lets us drink nectar, which is basically the ultimate mage drink. Oh, by the way, check in my pack, the front pocket. You should all have a square of the ambrosia in there. If you eat too much, you will burn up, so don’t eat it unless you really need too!”  
"How do we get Percy Jackson food?" asked DarkSkies.  
“Can we get back to Claw being missing!?” shouted Wizshark.  
“Okay, okay,” Mosspath chided, trying to calm down Wizshark. “Where did you last see him?”  
“I saw him last with Furrocious, attacking Z,” DarkSkies suggested.  
“Z?” HadiesStar echoed, confused.  
“I’m tired of saying his name,” DarkSkies sighed, exasperated.  
“So then, where is he?” asked Wizshark.  
“Who, Z or Claw?” asked HadiesStar.  
“CLAW, YOU IDIOT!” Wizshark turned on HadiesStar.  
“Geez,” Mosspath muttered. “No need to get so angry!”  
“I think one of your pets might have killed him!” Wizshark fretted, getting worked up. “It probably was Furrocious!”  
“WHAT!?” yelled DarkSkies, “Furrocious would never do that!”  
“I saw him last with Claw!” accused Wizshark. “He could sense your emotions! He knew you guys didn't trust me, and killed Claw!”  
“Calm down guys,” Mosspath tried to calm them down. “If Furrocious really killed Claw, there would be his fur under his claws.”  
“SO LOOK GUYS!” yelled Wizshark.  
They went over to look at Furrocious. Sure enough, they found nothing in his claws.  
“Then where is he?” Mosspath asked, curiosity in her tone.  
“Why don’t you find out?” Wizshark snapped, grief for his pet in his voice.  
“Fine,” Mosspath returned. “Can Furrocious follow Claw’s scent trail?” She added to DarkSkies.  
“I should think so…” DarkSkies hesitated. “But I’m not really sure…”  
Furrocious farted, then got up to show them he understood, and parted his jaws slightly to pick up Claw’s scent. Following the scent trail, he led them to a tree with Claws’ scent all over it. They saw Claw, licking a beehive on the tree, trying to get the honey with the bees swarming him.  
“We should probably treat his foot, it looks kind of injured, but can someone get rid of the bees, I’m allergic to them,” said HadiesStar, getting the nectar out of his bag.  
“Fine, let me get it.” All of a sudden, a long shadow hand came out of Wizshark’s arm, grabbing the bees and throwing them off into the distance. HadiesStar went over and emptied a little ambrosia into the honeypot Claw had found. Claw licked it hungrily and looked at HadiesStar for more, his scratches and broken foot healing almost immediately.  
“I’m sorry Claw but anymore would burn you up.” HadiesStar fluffed up the neck fur around Claw’s neck.  
Suddenly all the pets turned around and looked at the same spot, Claw dropping his honeypot in surprise. A second later a mage wielding a staff of elderwood and a wand of root appeared in the pets gaze, causing Shadow to jump back in surprise and ready a fireball.  
“I’m not trying to scare you.” The mage calmed them down, speaking in Shadow’s case. “I am The Forest Sage. I sensed a large amount of animal life force in this area so I came to check it out. I can sense an animal’s life force and I sensed a life force ebbing away here and then it came back suddenly, like a flare.”  
“That flare you sensed was me feeding Claw ambrosia, the food of the gods,” explained HadiesStar. “It heals extremely quickly, but too much will burn you up.”  
“That would be beneficial to my cause of saving the nearby forest, so can I have some?” asked The Forest Sage.  
“Sure,” said HadiesStar, emptying half of his bag into the sage’s hands. “This will almost bring you back from the dead, but use it carefully, okay?  
“Sure, let me know if you need any help anytime,” agreed the sage politely.  
“Now could be a good time,” suggested Shadow, Mosspath nodding in agreement. “We have to kill someone who is physically unkillable, and can raise armies from the earth.”  
“I’m sorry, my life essence would disappear after leaving the forest for some time, so I can't be any long-term help, but I have a... friend, who can help,” offered The Forest Sage.  
“Thank you,” said Mosspath, “but how can we find this friend of yours?”  
“His name is PolarChris,” said the sage, “I will lead you to him, hold on to your pets, have any of you learned teleport?  
“HadiesStar, Wizshark, and I have,” noted Shadow, “but my Flatulence is like a fireball, so how can I hold on?”  
“Mmm. Just think of him when you are teleporting, he will teleport with you, but you have to concentrate on me too, and hold on to each other.”  
“Okay, I think I got it,” said DarkSkies.  
* * *  
The group got ready to teleport but Furrocious was complaining that he wanted food.  
“Furrocious, I’ve told you five times now that I will give you food after we teleport,” said DarkSkies.  
Furrocious meowed and meowed and meowed until finally HadiesStar snapped, “Get that cat under control or he won’t be coming with, understand?”  
“Yes I do, but Furrocious won’t stop! I’ve tried everything!” protested DarkSkies.  
“Then do something else!” HadiesStar growled unsympathetically.  
“What else is there to do?” shouted DarkSkies.  
“Why don’t you put him in a bag until he shuts up?” HadiesStar suggested wryly.  
“NO!” yelled DarkSkies.  
“I know just how to deal with cats,” said the sage, feeding Furrocious an apple. “This will get him to settle down for the trip.”  
“Thank you,” said Mosspath politely.  
They linked hands, their pets holding on tight, and slipped into oblivion.


	5. Trap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Overpowered characters survive things that they should not but they do nothing to the main group besides make them take fall damage, and more arguing ft new character

They appeared on the edge of the forest, a broken down stone hut in front of them. As they got their bearings, HallowFire took flight suddenly, blowing fire in pain. HadiesStar ran over to check what had hurt his pet, then stumbled as the ground fell out from under him.  
“CRAP!” yelled HadiesStar. Everyone except The Forest Sage ran over to look at where HadiesStar had fallen. There was a perfect square trench in the ground, with sides made of steel.  
“Help guys!” HadiesStar’s voice echoed down the hollow trench, failing to notice that behind them, the sage was charging a green energy ball at the end of his staff. Wizshark charged up an ice spell to create a stairway and was about to cast it, when he got hit in the back with a bolt of green energy. Wizshark stumbled and accidentally shot the spell at HadiesStar.  
“W-” said HadiesStar, frozen solid. Mosspath looked back and saw a crow cawing at him.  
“Hey little bird-” the crow bit Mosspath. “Ouch! HadiesStar? I have a crow problem.”  
“Mhnnhhhmhnhnhm!” mumbled HadiesStar through ice.  
“What?”  
“C-CAW CAW CA-CAW”  
“Woah, an eagle!” DarkSkies exclaimed, looking up to see an eagle’s shadow fall on them.  
“MNH, MNH, NNNNNNNN!” HadiesStar attempted to talk while frozen, meaning for someone to get him out of there.  
“Okay, okay, calm down,” Mosspath chided while HadiesStar tried to get out.  
HallowFire was flying in circles while his master was trapped. Now he alighted down into the trap and started breathing fire onto HadiesStar to melt the ice. Once he was freed, he yelped, since his dragon started to burn him. “ENOUGH, ENOUGH!” Quickly, he climbed onto HallowFire’s back, who snorted in impatience and took off into the air, quickly climbing the air and getting out of the trench. HadiesStar was in fumes but started to cool down a little. They tried to put out the fumes but it didn’t work. So, they poured their water supply to attempt to put out the fumes, which thankfully worked.  
“Great, now we have no water. Thanks a lot HadiesStar!” muttered Wizshark.  
“Well if you didn’t freeze me, we wouldn’t be in this mess!” retorted HadiesStar.  
“Guys, calm down, we can always melt some of Wizshark’s ice for water,” DarkSkies chided.  
“That sounds like a good idea,” said Mosspath.  
“Okay, we’re calm,” replied HadiesStar.  
“Let’s do what we came to do,” said Shadow.   
The group turned around and to their surprise a tall muscular person was standing behind them next to The Forest Sage.  
“This is PolarChris, he is a knight like you, DarkSkies,” introduced the sage.  
“Oh, cool.” said DarkSkies.  
“At the risk of sounding cliche’d, I’ve got you now~” warned PolarChris.  
* * *   
The sound of a bow being drawn was picked up by the sharp hearing of an eagle. Kheto circled around, trying to locate the source of the bow. Once he found it, he dived, charging towards the source of the sound. He screeched, clawing at the bow’s owner, then flew away out of the bow’s range. Suddenly a fireball roared towards him. He looked towards the ground. A group of people was trying to hurt his master! Kheto dived towards the ground, his talons stretched out in front of him. He dodged fire and ice on the way down. He caught a mage in the face, screeching in triumph as he flew away.  
Kheto’s master was calling to him. Something about staying away from the male mages? He charged towards the lower level mage, dodging the ice the mage shot at him. Suddenly he was encased in darkness, being shot at by the mages. He called to his master, hoping to get help. Suddenly the darkness lifted. He shot away from the mages and into the sky.  
* * *  
HadiesStar was stunned. An eagle had just dodged his dragon, was finally caught by Wizshark’s shadow hand, only to fly out once Wizshark had been hit, losing control of his power. He shot a fireball towards PolarChris, only to have it deflected by his sword. They were losing, and needed help fast. HadiesStar called to Wizshark, hoping he wasn't to cut up after being hit with PolarChris’s shield.  
“Wizshark!” yelled HadiesStar, getting desperate.  
“Mrph,” said Wizshark weakly, muffled by the ground. “Have you ever tasted the dirt in this area? Good stuff, even better than where I came from.”  
HadiesStar ran over, getting a thermos out of his backpack as he ran. “Are you okay?” he panted, giving Wizshark some of the liquid from his thermos.  
“No, I’m not okay. I just got shot by a shield while I was trying to kill a bird,” snapped Wizshark, sipping some of the honey wine he was given.  
“Guys!” yelled Mosspath, “We need to retreat.”  
HadiesStar looked around. DarkSkies was battered and bloodied, his sword and shield dented. *BOOM* Shadow was unconscious, knocked out by a bomb trap. Mosspath was on her last arrows.  
“Okay, just concentrate on me!” commanded HadiesStar.  
“Trying to escape, huh?” said PolarChris, deflecting another arrow from Mosspath.  
“Yeah!” said HadiesStar. “One, two, three-” *SNAP* the bamboo trapdoor under the guild collapses, again.


	6. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cringy dialogue ft. the first thing that actually made them struggle

“How many traps are in this area?” wondered Mosspath, noticing that there wasn’t an annoying crow biting her.  
“Over 500 traps! CAW C-CAW!” crackled the voice of PolarChris, outside the trap.  
“Why?” asked Mosspath, truly puzzled  
“Because I can?” explained PolarChris, “…I trapped you with the same trap, twice! Haha! How’s that for Trickster eh?” he added, more to himself.  
“Um…” said HadiesStar, not fully registering the cawing PolarChris had just made. “You can shapeshift?”  
“Haven't I made it obvious?” muttered PolarChris  
“Does that mean he can or can't?” HadiesStar whispered to Wizshark.  
“He can, idiot,” Wizshark muttered.  
HadiesStar teleported out of the pit, only to find himself surrounded by living wood. Wizshark aimed a spell at the wood to freeze it, but got hit in the back with PolarChris’s shield, freezing HadiesStar in place. Wizshark turned to confront The Forest Sage and found vines shooting towards him. They hit him in his eyes, temporarily blinding him.  
“OWW,” screamed Wizshark. “CLAW, ATTACK!”  
“HallowFire, I’ll need backup too,” yelled Shadow. She and Mosspath had attacked PolarChris. HallowFire flew over and sat down. Shadow summoned Flatulence to her side. Mosspath jumped on NightStar, and they took off, flying above PolarChris and shooting projectiles at him.  
“Nice mounts, ladies,” commented PolarChris. “Check out mine!” He pulled out a remote and pulled a lever. Behind HadiesStar, a hatch opened up and a robot came out. It looked like a big metal dragon, with wires sticking out all over him. The robot extended its wings and began to fly.   
“What is it?” asked Mosspath.  
“I call it Tycho!” said PolarChris. “It’s a robot version of a what I think an eagle should look like! I know I have an eagle as a pet, but this one is ridable, unlike the living Kheto.”  
“It looks more like a rat to me,” said HadiesStar, his mouth unfreezing. “Oh and Shadow, why are you riding my dragon?”  
“Uh… Cause I am?” asked Shadow.  
“Good enough reason for me,” said HadiesStar. “But can you unfreeze me, please?”  
“No! Wait, don’t!” yelled Mosspath, running towards the group with her arms in the air.  
“Remember what happened last time?” reminded DarkSkies, a little too late. Shadow already commanded HallowFire to shoot fire at HadiesStar.  
“Shadow, watch out!” shouted Mosspath. Shadow turned around, but turned too late, to avoid the bomb hurtling towards her.  
BOOM! The bomb exploded into fiery shards, unfreezing HadiesStar but also sent Shadow into flames that licked greedily and fuming toward the sky, but died down after a while.  
Wizshark’s icy shard hurtled through the air to intercept the bomb, but too late. The shard whizzed through the air, narrowly missing HadiesStar who dodged instinctively at the last moment.  
“Hey!” HadiesStar yelped, jumping in surprise of the ice shard that whizzed past him.  
“Sorry,” Wizshark muttered, shooting another bolt of ice at PolarChris, missing as he dodged to the side.   
“We need to retreat again. Ugh, I hate this!” exclaimed DarkSkies, dodging vines that shot him from all sides from the Forest Sage.  
“Leaving so soon? Why not stay and let me enjoy my fun!” screeched PolarChris, cackling maniacally.  
“Fun? How could this be fun!?” Wizshark protested loudly.  
“What fun is, how all your friends are in the cage again!” replied PolarChris as they fell into the trap… again.  
“Wizshark, you are the only one left!” HadiesStar told him. “Give them some icing!”  
“Uh, um, okay.” Wizshark hesitated but shot ice shards at PolarChris and the Forest Sage, freezing them automatically.  
“Tell us how to get out or I will burn you alive with HallowFire!” HadiesStar bellowed with Hallowfire at his side, snorting flames in impatience.  
“Sure, why not?” PolarChris sneered, making a staircase appear out of the trench, daring them to get on it.  
“Don’t get on it!” Wizshark yelled, his voice echoing in the trap and resonating off the stone walls.  
Too late, HadiesStar and Shadow eagerly climbed up the stairs, only to fall with a loud thump on the stone floor while only halfway to the top of the staircase.  
“Told you,” Mosspath muttered, rushing to help them as they groaned on the stone floor.  
“You didn’t tell us earlier,” HadiesStar moaned in agony, wincing in pain as he rolled to his bruised side.  
Mosspath got out a potion from HadiesStar knapsack and gave it to them to drink, while Wizshark shot ice shards above.  
“That’s it.” DarkSkies stood up. “Go kill those vermins up there and get us out of here!” he commanded to Hallowfire.  
“Hey!” HadiesStar exclaimed. “You can’t use my dragon!”  
But Hallowfire snorted and took off, breathing fire on the Forest Sage and PolarChris, causing them to leap away to avoid the dragon’s accurate aim of flames.  
“Hey, NightStar!” Mosspath called, mounting her eagle who flew over instantly and carried her out of the trench.  
“Go get the others!” She commanded when she safely got out of the trap, while Hallowfire kept the others distracted.  
“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING!?” boomed a voice over them.  
“NO!” Wizshark shouted. “IT’S BLOODGOD!”  
“This is going to be fun,” HadiesStar exaggerated, shooting fireballs at Zadimus Bloodgod from below. His aim was poor and Zadimus Bloodgod dodged before it came within range.  
“Wow!” Zadimus Bloodgod grinned evilly, “This is going to be fun!”  
“Get the others out of that trap!” Mosspath hollered to her eagle, shooting a few arrows at Bloodgod’s face.  
NightStar flew back into the trench, letting all three people get on it’s back. It flew back out with some difficulty balancing and let them scramble down.  
“Take that!” HadiesStar yelled and made the ground around them burst into flames.  
Tycho flew at HadiesStar, but HallowFire shot flames before Tycho could harm his master.  
DarkSkies yelled, “Furrocious, WANT SOME FROSTING?!” and Furrocious yowled and jumped at Tycho, tearing a few wires apart before falling back to the ground.  
“NO!” yelled PolarChris, and slammed Furrocious with his shield before he used the remote to call back Tycho and repair the wires.  
Tycho flew back up, and wobbled slightly, smoke coming out of his left wing. “I’LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!” yelled PolarChris as he ran toward DarkSkies.  
“Trololololol!” HadiesStar grinned.  
“Hey!” DarkSkies yelled while trying to fend off PolarChris’ attack. “We have a problem here!”  
“Fine!” HadiesStar shouted back, helping DarkSkies in attacking PolarChris, who shapeshifted into a large grizzly bear.  
Claw bounded over to the grizzly and attacked him, furious that another bear was on his territory, while Furrocious did nothing but paw at dandelions. PolarChris snapped at Claw and bowled him over with his paws, crushing Claw underneath him.  
The sound of an arrow fitted to a bow sounded near them and PolarChris dropped dead on top of Claw, while the Forest Sage went running. The bear had took an arrow to the head from inside the forest. An archer stepped out of the shadows of the trees and fitted another arrow to the string, but this time pointed at Claw.  
“NO!” Wizshark rushed towards the archer and froze him with his ice before the archer could move.   
“Let him explain himself.” Shadow stepped out.   
“Fine.” HadiesStar set flames to the ice, but was not powerful enough to burn.  
“Well, are you going to say anything?” asked DarkSkies, prodding the archer with his sword.  
‘Well, um…” the archer began as he got up. “I am SilentStrike and I was in the forest and… uh-”  
“Don’t stutter, tell us why you're here!” yelled Wizshark, who was still angry that he tried to shoot Claw. “And tell us why you shot the bear first and not one of us!”  
“Well,” SilentStrike began again. “I-”  
“LOOKS LIKE YOU FORGOT I WAS HERE!” Bloodgod shouted behind them.  
“Great timing,” HadiesStar complained sarcastically. “When we were just about to get some information from this, this person.” As he directed to Silent Strike, who stood there gaping at Zadimus Bloodgod, recognition spread across his face.  
“Looks like someone tried to escape me!” Bloodgod targeted Silent Strike who had fear in his eyes as he stared at him.  
SilentStrike shot arrows at both DarkSkies and Bloodgod, missing them both, barely.  
“Just freeze him!” Mosspath yelled to Wizshark. “So we can deal with him after Bloodgod!”  
“Who’s side are you on, theirs or mine!” boomed Zadimus, throwing bombs at the group that exploded as they hit the ground.  
“I don’t care!” Silent Strike shouted back. “I-” His voice was muffled as Wizshark shot ice at him, freezing him.  
“Thank God,” said HadiesStar, relieved that they didn’t have to dodge his arrows anymore.  
“Let’s focus on Zadimus, please!” reminded Mosspath, mounting NightStar and shooting explosive arrows that exploded in a mushroom cloud at Zadimus.  
“Yes!” Shadow agreed, choking on the smoke that the explosive arrows made.  
“You know,” HadiesStar began, coughing in the smoke. “It would be better if you used your flame arrows or your normal ones, because we can’t fly up on mounts to escape the smoke, like you can.”  
“Okay, sure, but don't you have a dragon you can ride?” Mosspath switched to her normal arrows and shot them instead of the explosive ones and the smoke began to fade. “Sorry.”  
“Oh yeah,” said HadiesStar, “that is fine for me, but the others don't.”  
“’Bye-bye!” said Zadimus Bloodgod, escaping through a portal that appeared in front of him.  
“We were too distracted again; how we do this every time. It’s not that hard.” pointed out Wizshark.  
“Look who’s talking. You were on his side for the beginning of this battle!” argued HadiesStar.  
“Remember how he manipulates us, hmm?” reminded Mosspath. “HadiesStar, DarkSkies, and I have been through all this guy put us through and we’re not broken apart. C’mon guys, we need to stay strong!”  
“She’s right, y’know not everything is about being right. Would you guys rather save the princess and be happy or argue and die trying?” agreed Shadow.  
“Die arguing,” Wizshark mumbled, crossing his arms.  
“And you, HadiesStar?” Shadow directing her question at HadiesStar, in disgust of Wizshark’s answer .  
“Save the princess,” HadiesStar mumbled mutinously.   
“What was that?” Shadow asked.  
“Save the princess,” HadiesStar said, more clear and louder.  
“Wizshark?”  
“Die arguing!” Wizshark shouted.  
“Okay, that helps a little bit.”  
“If anything, I would save Furrocious,” DarkSkies whispered to Mosspath.  
“Same thing for NightStar,” replied Mosspath, with NightStar landing on her shoulder from their flight.  
A muffled groan interrupted them from their conversation. Everyone turned to look at SilentStrike, who was a frozen ice statue. HadiesStar exchanged a glance with Wizshark, who nodded, and unfroze the archer. After SilentStrike was unfrozen, he fitted an arrow to the bowstring, raised the bow, and shot. Before anyone could do anything, the arrow whizzed past them and flew into the Forest Sage, who was trying to get close enough to wrap vines on the group. The arrow hit his forehead with extreme accuracy and the Forest Sage reeled back, dead, and landed on the forest floor with a thump.  
The group stared at SilentStrike. No archer had that much precise accuracy! SilentStrike moved towards the Forest Sage and dragged him towards a grove of trees and undergrowth.  
“We don’t have to worry about that one again,” he announced after he came back from the grove.  
“Did you work for Zadimus Bloodgod once?” Shadow asked, though it was pretty obvious.  
“Yeah,” Silent Strike responded. “Then I ran away from him because I saw that he was evil and he promised me my family resurrected but that couldn’t happen so I decided to move on.”  
“That’s what he told me, too,” Wizshark agreed. “That I would be able to see my family again…”  
“We need to get moving,” HadiesStar reminded them. “We’re always sidetracked. Where’s the map?”  
“I have it.” Mosspath got out the map from the knapsack. “Let’s see, where are we? Okay so we are here and we need to go there.” She pointed at the marked spots on the the map.  
“What is it called?” asked DarkSkies, pointing at the island of the destination.  
“Refugee Bay,” Mosspath replied, sighing as she remember memories of that place.  
“Do you know the place?” asked Wizshark.  
“Yes, it is where strongholds are, giving the island the name,” Mosspath answered. “I once lived there, you know. But the refugees were blown up and the people who were in the strongholds died. I was in one of them, but I escaped. The people who blew it up lit the dock on fire, so now when we go there we might have to crash land and fight them right away…” Her voice trailed away as Mosspath remembered what happened to the strongholds.  
“Let’s do it then!” HadiesStar responded enthusiastically.


	7. Capture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some idiots get captured by other idiots then leave because plot

The group set off towards Refugee Bay in the ship they found near the shore, which was called the L.O.L. Shamrock.   
“I wonder what L.O.L. Shamrock stands for?” HadiesStar directed the question at Mosspath, pointing at the carved name on the ship.  
“I think L.O.L. stands for Leaders Of Law,” Mosspath answered. “But I’m not so sure about Shamrock.”   
“MAYBE LEPRECHAUNS OWNED IT!” boomed a voice.   
“Oh no!” shouted SilentStrike, “It’s Bloodgod!”.  
“Flame! Come here!” yelled SilentStrike. Out of the woods came a dragon with purple scales that blew fire at Zadimus Bloodgod.   
“Oh it’s your buddy now, isn’t it!?” he sneered as he raised a fist to swat away Flame.  
“No!” yelled SilentStrike as he and Mosspath shot exploding arrows at Zadimus Bloodgod’s hand.  
“Arrgh!” yelled Bloodgod as he threw back his hand, barely missing Shadow and Wizshark. “Come now!”   
Out of the burnt down houses emerged demons and monsters. HadieStar threw back his sleeve as he showed the demons the Mark of Hades, some monsters vaporized, while others cringed away.  
Mosspath and SilentStrike used the chance to shoot the monsters in the air, while HadiesStar attacked both ground and air, and DarkSkies attacked monsters on the ground.  
SilentStrike saw a monster crawling up behind HadieStar, and as he tried to shoot it, he realized his quiver was out of arrows, so he whipped out a dagger he carried for emergencies, but before he could do anything Furrocious and Claw sliced the monster with their claws.  
“Nice job Furrocious and Claw!” yelled DarkSkies, as he gave Furrocious some frosting. Furrocious mewed in pleasure and started attacking Bloodgod, which the others had forgotten about, again.  
“Bye-bye!” cackled Bloodgod, as he slipped through a portal that materialized in front of him.  
“Why are we sidetracked so much?” HadiesStar complained. “It’s not that hard.”   
Shadow rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, but we should NOW focus on the task at hand; searching Refuge Bay.”   
Mosspath looked at the map. “We need to go in this direction where the west wind is blowing. That’s where the island is.”   
“Okay,” HadiesStar said. “Let’s go.” The L.O.L. Shamrock turned in the direction of the west and began to set sail.   
* * *  
They sailed for a while towards the west before the west wind died down and instead a scorching east wind came up, blowing them the wrong direction.  
“Ugh,” HadiesStar complained. “Why is it always so hard to do everything?”  
“It’s not so bad,” Wizshark pointed out. “The east wind should die down but if it doesn’t, we could take shelter on a nearby island,” he pointed at several islands dotted over the ocean on the map.  
“I guess…” HadiesStar muttered.   
The east wind did not die down. HadiesStar complained and NightStar flew high, remarking on what islands were ahead to Mosspath.   
“Okay,” Mosspath began. “We’re almost to an island and if this wind doesn’t die down, we should be able to take refuge there for a little bit.”  
The L.O.L. Shamrock sailed towards an archipelago and took shelter in one of the islands.  
“Finally,” HadiesStar grunted as he got off the ship while Mosspath tied it to a nearby tree so it wouldn’t float away. “Something that’s actually good!”  
“We need to either find shelter or make shelter, so what will we do?” asked DarkSkies.  
“How about that cave over there,” Mosspath suggested, being the most observant and pointing to the cave on the other side of the clearing.  
The group went towards a dark cave that was nearby for some shelter and left their animals, except NightStar who was flying above Mosspath, near the boat. Shadow explored it first and found nothing, so they rested there.  
“What are you doing in our cave!?” a dark deep voice boomed behind them. Mosspath quickly got up and got her bow and arrows ready with NightStar at her shoulder.   
“We were just resting here for a bit,” Mosspath explained nervously while the others stared at the people. “We’ll leave now.”  
“Not if we can help it!” The voice boomed, an arrow whizzed past the group and hit the other side of the cave with a clink as it fell to the floor.  
“Well this could be less unwelcoming,” muttered Shadow, trying to see the bright side of the situation and going against her name.  
“I think this is the most welcoming party that I’ve ever seen,” the voice sneered sarcastically. “We even have ‘streamers’!”  
The “streamers” were actually spiders and webs hanging off the cave roof and crawling around the cave like little ants.  
“Who are you anyway?” Wizshark asked, trying to distract them. “And who are ‘we’?”  
“Why should I tell you?” the voice boomed. “When we can kept it a secret? And these,” he gestured to a mob of people around him who had gathered with flickering torches that reflected light off the cave walls, “are ‘we’. Attack!”  
The people who had gathered revealed weapons and ran at the group from all sides so fast that they could not react and were captured that instant.  
“Why?” HadiesStar grumbled as he was tied up. “Why does this always happen to us?”  
Shadow shrugged, ignoring the grumble and tried to untie herself but unsuccessful. The group was led to a larger cave behind the smaller cave from a compartment in the back that Shadow had not noticed. There were more people in the larger cave as the group came in.  
“Are these the intruders?” asked the dark deep voice, but this voice was not deep enough to be Zadimus’.  
“Yes,” a person stepped forward to answer the voice. “They were found in the smaller cave and claimed that they were resting for a little bit.”  
“Alright,” the voice answered. “What should we do with them?”  
A jumbled amount of answers came from the crowd of people that were gathered.   
“Kill them for even being here!” yelled one.  
Another shouted, “Starve them in our jail cells!”  
A third voice was raised louder than the rest, “Let them go under one condition; to bring back all the gold and money to us!”  
“Never!” yelled HadiesStar defiantly, glaring at the people.  
“Get back down to your place, you have no right in this!” the voice boomed, echoing around the walls of the cave and HadiesStar, still glaring defiantly, sat down.  
“We will keep the intruders hostage in our jail cells until we agree on a decision,” the voice continued.  
“So much for resting on a island,” HadiesStar said pointedly to Wizshark, who had first suggested going on an island, as they were led down corridors to the cells.  
“It was not my fault!” Wizshark whispered fiercely back. “Blame it on the east wind!”  
“Whatever,” HadiesStar muttered and they fell into an uneasy silence.  
The long, uneasy silence was broken when HadiesStar was called upon to tell the captors why the group had been there and where they were trying to go.  
HadieStar went into as smaller cave, that wasn’t as big as the one they entered from, to tell them why they had been there and where they were trying to go.   
“Don’t tell them,” Wizshark whispered as HadiesStar left, nodding in agreement.   
“Why are you here?” a person asked once HadiesStar entered the room.   
HadiesStar repeated what Mosspath had said in the cave that they entered in. “We were sailing the sea and rested on the island for a little bit for the east wind to die down.”   
“The east wind to die down, eh?” the person narrowed his eyes at HadiesStar thoughtfully.  
“Er, uh, I meant that we needed to rest for a little since we were tired from the sailing,” HadiesStar corrected himself.  
“Hm,” The person grunted. “Let me think about that one for a little bit.”   
HadiesStar waited uncomfortably as the person thought for a while, shifting from foot to foot.   
“So,” he began. “You came from the east, going to the west.” It was not a question, just a statement.  
HadiesStar gulped, he didn’t mean to say anything about where they came from or where they were going. He was about to protest but thought better of it. “Yeah, I guess,” HadiesStar muttered weakly.  
“Hmm.” The person was still deep in thought. “You would be going in the direction of Refugee Bay, is that correct?”  
HadiesStar hoped that Wizshark wouldn’t kill him when he got back to the others. “Uh, yeah,” he muttered sheepishly.  
The person’s eyebrows were raised in surprise. He muttered to himself inaudibly while HadiesStar shifted from foot to foot.  
“So that is where you are going?” the person confirmed.   
“Yeah,” HadiesStar muttered, really hoping now that Wizshark wouldn’t murder him after he gave their destination away, “I guess.”  
“Speak up,” the person snapped sharply. “I can’t hear you.”  
“Yes, that is where we are going,” HadiesStar said more clearly.  
“Okay, that’s all,” the person dismissed him. “You can go back now.”  
The guards led HadiesStar back to the prison cells which his group was in.   
“What did you say?” Wizshark asked once the guards went away and HadiesStar was back in the cell. “Did you tell them?”  
“Uh,” HadiesStar began. “Um.”  
“Just get on with it,” Wizshark snapped sharply, knowing that something happened.  
“Well…” HadiesStar began, wondering if he should tell them the truth, “I told them that we were resting in the cave for the wind to die down. Which is basically what Mosspath said.”   
“Uh, huh,” Mosspath rolled her eyes. “Exactly what I said.”  
“Hey!” HadiesStar protested. “I did my best, I just didn’t want to plagiarize you so I paraphrased it!”  
“Right,” Shadow muttered sarcastically. “Like this matters in this situation.”  
“Anyway,” HadiesStar continued, knowing that they were going to kill him on this part, “the person guessed that we were going from the east to the west, in the direction of Refuge Bay.”  
“Wow, he’s pretty good at guessing then,” Darkskies commented.  
“And you told them!?” Wizshark exclaimed, disbelief in his tone. “Wow, I didn’t know you would do that.”  
“What else could I have done?” HadiesStar protested. “Told them something else and get punished for it for lying?”  
“Exactly what you should have done!” Wizshark argued. “It would be better that way than them knowing all our plans.”  
“Whatever,” Mosspath cut in. “What’s done is done. We need to find a way to get out of here.”


	8. The Way Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The idiots get broken out because somehow birds can talk

The words calmed down the other people, though Wizshark shot a glare at HadiesStar and was still furious that HadiesStar had given them away.  
“How are we going to get out of here?” Shadow wondered. “It’s all guarded.”  
“Wait.” Mosspath was thinking. “Let me think.”   
The other people were also deep in thought and silence fell in the still room of the prison cells.  
“Are there guards at night?” Mosspath asked, breaking the long still silence in the air, but still thinking.   
“Yes,” Shadow answered, “they’re everywhere.”  
“Okay.” The room fell back into a silence.  
“Maybe someone could cause a distraction,” suggested Wizshark.  
“Wait, our pets aren’t captured!” DarkSkies realized.  
“Oh, yeah!” HadiesStar responded. “But NightStar’s here,” he pointed at NightStar, who was still perched loyally on Mosspath’s shoulder.  
“Okay, then he could be the messenger, then,” Shadow suggested.  
“How will he get out of here though?” Wizshark asked, looking at the bars that caged them in, with a rail on top of them.  
“Easy!” Mosspath answered. “NightStar could just fly out of here,” she looked up at NightStar, who flew out of the cage and sat on one of the metal rails and preened his feathers.  
“Sure okay,” HadiesStar agreed. “What’s the message?”  
“How about that all of them come and let Hallowfire burn everyone alive?” Darkskies suggested sarcastically while NightStar cocked his head as if he was taking him seriously. “I’m just kidding,” he added hastily at NightStar, who resumed listening to the conversation.  
“That actually could be a good idea,” Shadow remarked. “We could get Hallowfire, Flatulence, and Flame to burn them as a distraction and then the rest of us could ride our pets afterwards, if possible.”  
“Sure,” Darkskies muttered under his breath. “I bet it’ll be really easy to ride a cat.”  
Shadow glared at him. “I said if possible.”  
“Sorry,” Darkskies apologized.   
“Okay so that’s the message,” Mosspath quickly explained to NightStar in detail what the plan was. “Go!” Nightstar took off in a flurry of golden feathers.  
* * *  
Night was falling fast as NightStar flew silently out of the cave corridors. The air drafted beneath his wings and he swooped under the narrow entrance and cut out into the cold fresh air.   
There was the ship, with their pets getting restless without the return of their masters. The tree that the ship was tied to was waving, its branches bended in the strong wind. Dark skies were coming on the approach of a storm darkening over the horizon.   
NightStar slowed his steady drumming of his wings and circled the ship, swooping down in a landing after the third circle.   
“Where are the others?” Claw the grizzly bear shifted from paw to paw uneasily while Furrocious whined and mewed piteously.   
NightStar ignored Furrocious and instead turned to answer Claw’s question. “They’re trapped.” A breath of horror fell over them. “And in a cave that they rested in.” NightStar angled his head so that his eyes fell on the dark cave entrance that the group had rested in.  
“How stupid of them,” HallowFire muttered, snorting flames as he paced restlessly around the bank. “Humans don’t have the sense anymore these days,” he gazed ruefully at the cave though, and NightStar knew that he was fond of his master, HadiesStar, no matter how much trouble he got into, beside his grumpy words.  
“So,” Flame began, “what’s the plan?”  
NightStar paused, recalling the urgency in Mosspath’s tone and what the strategy was. “You are going to battle it out. So you three,” he nodded at Flame, HallowFire, and Flatulence, “are going to burn as many people as possible. Then, Furrocious and Claw will attack on ground level as a distraction. After you have done as much damage as you can, then get to the cave and carry them if you can, while the rest distract them. Get to the ship as fast as you can when you’re done.”  
“Okay, got it.” Claw nodded.  
“You all got it?” NightStar confirmed.   
“Yeah.” The rest of the heads nodded.  
“Let’s go then. Wait for my signal.” NightStar took off back towards the cave. “I won’t be long!”  
* * *  
Mosspath and the group waited anxiously for NightStar’s return. She kept muttering to herself that NightStar would be back. Before long, an explosion of golden feathers shot from the entrance and landed on the rail, telling Mosspath what happened.  
Mosspath raised to head. “Our pets got it.” she announced, loud enough to swallow the exhaled breath of relief from the others. “When they come, the signal will be when the flames flicker on the stone walls of the cave.”  
“Okay.” The group was bright and determined to get out of this cave, and quickly too.   
NightStar flew out out of the cave. Mosspath called after him, “Quickly NightStar! Quickly!”  
* * *  
NightStar’s wings soundlessly curled the warm air drafts as he swooped down and beat his wings noiselessly, propelling him up out of the warm draft and into the cold air up. What a relief it was to get out of that cave! he thought as he neared the L.O.L. Shamrock, as the group called it. What a mess they got themselves into! He did not dislike them but knew that they should be more careful next time if they wanted to stay out of trouble. What a mess!  
The golden eagle neared the ship and caught the glimmer in their eyes and they glinted off the clouded moonlight that the dark storm clouds partly hid.  
His golden feathers glowed in the pale light as NightStar puffed them up, signaling for them to follow him.  
NightStar swooped down low so that his talons almost barely scraped the top of their heads. “Got it?”  
“Yes,” Claw hissed and NightStar beat his wings, stirring up the wind so that it ruffled Claw’s fur. “Now get back up there!”  
He ascended back towards the warm draft of air that floated low in the air, barely skimming the ground. The thermals were too warm so he ascended higher, but not losing track of the animals below him, their silhouettes dark against the cloudy mist along the ground.  
The cold sharp wind made him gasp in surprise. A strong wind pushed him back, but NightStar determining flapped his wings, descending towards the warm draft again. They were almost towards the cave.  
* * *  
The bright flicker of bright flames woke the group from where they dozed off. Mosspath got up sharply and collected the small hidden bow that she always carried with her. There were also arrows that were still usable. She saw the others get out their hidden weapons that they carried with them.  
Soon enough, faithful old HallowFire appeared at the entrance. He breathed out fire onto the metal bars and they began to bend, until they were nothing but molten metal that melted down to a scorched lump of molten bars. The rest of the pets appeared at the entrance.  
“Everyone ready to ride their pets?” asked Shadow, mounting Flatulence.  
“Excuse me?!” replied DarkSkies. “Remember I can’t ride a cat!” Furrocious mewed in agreement at the statement and the idea of getting squashed by DarkSkies was horrifying.  
“Oh, yeah,” Mosspath remembered. “You can ride with HadiesStar.”  
“Fine,” DarkSkies muttered, wanting to have his own mount.  
“Let’s get going,” HadiesStar announced, holding Furrocious so DarkSkies could get on HallowFire.


	9. Unexpected Twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh no they fall into hell

With their mounted pets, they came to the main cave which was scorched with flames and fire.  
“I wonder what has happened here,” Mosspath wondered out loud, looking at the walls that once had neat torches in their places but now was cast on the ground, spreading it’s flames all over the cave.   
“I don’t know.” Shadow shrugged. “But it doesn’t look good.”   
“What do you think, SilentStrike?” asked Wizshark getting suspicious of his quietness. “SilentStrike?!”  
“WHERE DID THAT IDIOT GO?!” HadiesStar went up in fumes at his frustration while the others tried to calm him down. “I KNEW HE WOULD BETRAY US!”  
“Dude, calm down,” Wizshark chided. “He probably didn’t betray us, remember he killed The Forest Sage and PolarChris?”  
HadiesStar let out a unconvincing grunt. “I guess you’re right.” he muttered. “But it could be a distraction.”  
Wizshark snorted, “I doubt it.”  
“Where is everyone?” Shadow asked, noticing with uneasiness that the cave was empty and their voices echoed down corridors.  
“I don’t know.” Mosspath glanced over at the stone halls. “But we better get out of here while we have the chance since even a deaf person could have heard your outburst, HadiesStar,” she glared at HadiesStar who muttered an apology.  
As they turned to go, a voice boomed out of the stone. “Time to go? I think not! Attack!”   
A burst of flames exploded from HallowFire, Flatulence, and Flame at once, creating a wall of fire that separated the cave in half. The captors stepped back in surprise and bumped into the back wall, falling flat on their faces.  
HadiesStar also fell on the floor with uncontrollable laughter until Wizshark shook him up and told him to get up. He got up dutifully, staring back across the wall of flames and sneered at them.  
“We need to find SilentStrike,” Shadow hissed at them, as they mounted their pets. “He better be around here somewhere.”  
“Can Flame sense him?” Mosspath looked at the dragon. Flame cocked his head and snorted smoke through his nostrils. He grunted and snorted at NightStar, who told Mosspath.   
“Okay,” Mosspath stood up and addressed the group, “He’s at the far island to the west.”  
HadiesStar groaned, but got up and mounted HallowFire with DarkSkies behind him. “Just our luck,” he muttered.  
“Okay,” Mosspath addressed the group once they got out of the cave and neared the ship. “So Shadow, Flatulence, Flame, NightStar, and I are going to go to the far west island.” She pointed to the largest island on the west side of the archipelago. “And the rest of you go to the ship and meet us up there, okay?”  
“Okay.” The rest of them went to the ship, while the others flew towards the west side, flying low to catch any sign of SilentStrike.  
Flame led the way west until they could see a large island, but smaller than the one they landed on before. A dark figure was close to the water edge.  
“Hey!” Shadow called down, their pale shadow skimming the ground from the silver moonlight, “Who are you?”  
“Shadow, is that you?” yelled the voice, the dark figure standing up and looking up at the sky.  
“Yeah, SilentStrike is that you?” asked Shadow, turning the question around down on the figure.  
“Yep.” replied the figure.  
The mounts began to descend and skimmed the ground before a landing.  
“We were so nervous that you were dead,” said Shadow.  
“Nice of you to care but, we have more pressing matters,” SilentStrike answered bluntly.  
“He’s right for once, y'know,” Mosspath told Shadow, cracking up with laughter. “How did you get here?” she asked him.  
“Well,” SilentStrike started, “when we were escaping the other island, Flame needed a drink of water so we landed, but then Flame disappeared so I stayed here waiting for him to come back.”   
“Well at least you’re back now,” Shadow said, leading them to the edge of the island, where L.O.L. Shamrock was waiting for them.  
“Took you long enough,” muttered HadiesStar as they got inside the ship.   
“Right,” Mosspath retorted.  
* * *  
“CAW, CAW!” The same crow that they encountered before, bites Mosspath as the ship started to set sail.  
“Hey! Is that the same bird? HadiesStar, I have another crow problem.”  
“Hey, I thought you killed PolarChris!” exclaimed HadiesStar at SilentStrike.  
“I thought I did, but… um… I guess I didn’t…?” mumbled SilentStrike.  
“Is PolarChris a zombie?” Wizshark asked  
“WIZSHARK, YOU ARE NOT HELPING!” exclaimed Mosspath, Shadow, HadiesStar, and SilentStrike simultaneously.  
“I STILL HAVE TWO LIVES LEFT!” taunted crow PolarChris while flying out of sight.  
“WATCH OUT, WIZSHARK!” Mosspath yelled, swinging her legs over NightStar as he flew out of the ship.   
Wizshark widened his eyes to see a black speck in the sky, hurtling towards them. The black dot now widened into a fiery bomb that exploded the ship into burning pieces that extinguished quickly because of the water.   
The group was thrown off board and landed heavily into the water. Drifting pieces of wood that floated off lazily into the sea provided something to cling to as they were flung into the sea.   
“Some luck this is,” HadiesStar grumbled, shaking off the dampness still that clung to him despite HallowFire’s attempt to get rid of the moisture.   
“We better get out of here.” Mosspath ignored HadiesStar and rose higher into the sky as Shadow mounted Flatulence and SilentStrike mounted Flame, while the others on the ground climbed on their pet’s back on a piece of driftwood, that is, except DarkSkies, who climbed onto HallowFire’s back with HadiesStar.  
“ZADIMUS BLOODGOD IS BACK!” A voice boomed, shattering the water as a fist came down on the once calm surface, now breaking it into pieces and sending waves drowning the groups.   
“GET UP HERE!” Shadow yelled to Wizshark, who was still stranded on the driftwood with Claw beside him.  
Flying down, Flame let Wizshark climb up behind SilentStrike with Claw right beside him.   
“Isn’t Claw too heavy for Flame?” asked HadiesStar as Claw climbed onto Flame’s back, his claws anchoring on Flame’s scales.  
“No, Flame has superhuman strength and can lift 10 tons,” replied SilentStrike.  
“Wow!” exclaimed HadiesStar, surprised, looking at Flame who just tossed his head.  
“Hurry up!” Mosspath reminded them as the groups took to flight, rising in the thermal winds that rose.   
Suddenly, another portal appeared in front of them. They had no time to react as Zadimus Bloodgod came through it, lighting his fist in a blaze of necrotic glory.  
“Well then,” commented HadiesStar, “How many times has this happened?’  
“My calculations are about—” started Mosspath  
“I don't care about your calculations, we just need to get out of here!” roared HadiesStar, interrupting Mosspath.  
“Wow,” replied Mosspath sarcastically. “That was the second time you said something actually intelligent! Is that a record?”  
HadiesStar muttered something about know-it-all archers and flew HallowFire into the portal that Zadimus Bloodgod had come out off.  
What they saw was a giant maze within the underworld, with Zadimus Bloodgod nowhere to be seen.  
“Hey!” Shadow yelled. “This is Necro’s maze!”  
“How do you know that?” Mosspath asked.  
“I actually read stuff sometimes! You aren't the only smart one in the group!” Shadow retorted.  
“Okay, okay, point taken,” muttered Mosspath, hiking down away from the portal.  
“Wait,” Shadow yelled, stopping Mosspath, “you're actually going in there? Isn't there a guardian in the center?”  
“Yeah, and he can hypnotize you.” Mosspath continued down the path.  
“Cool!” shouted HadiesStar. “Beat you to the middle, Darkskies!”  
“Not if I get there first,” yelled Wizshark and SilentStrike at the same time.  
“Boys,” muttered Mosspath, sighing in exasperation. Shadow laughed and led them into the maze, their pets trailing behind them.


	10. The Maze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HadiesStar has daddy issues ft. giant maze

“Hey, this is the maze?” asked Wizshark, pausing after a long while. “Right?”  
“Yep,” Shadow confirmed, looking at the map which didn’t have the underworld in it. “This won’t be of any use.” She tossed the map to Mosspath, who caught it and put the map in the knapsack.  
“…Hehehe…”  
“Did you hear something? Like… a whisper?” SilentStrike paused in the maze, listening to what he had heard.  
“Yeah, I think I heard it too,” Wizshark added, also pausing, getting his staff.  
“Calm down guys, you guys are just being scared,” Shadow chided.  
“You’re right, we need to calm down…-” agreed Wizshark, getting cut off by HadiesStar.  
“BOO!” shouts HadiesStar from around the corner, scaring the group.  
“Hey!” Wizshark turned around, glaring at HadiesStar who hung his head sheepishly. “What was that for?”  
“It’s either sanity or morale!” says HadiesStar, sadistically,  
“Uh… no?” retorts Mosspath. “I think we can be both happy and sane, thank you very much.”  
“…Hahaha…”  
“There it is again! That sadistic whisper!” exclaims SilentStrike again.  
“…It’s this way…” beckoned the whisper. “…come my little pawns…”   
“I think I can hear it too…” HadiesStar commented hesitantly.  
“C’mon guys, you aren’t fooling anybody, it’s just the maze getting to you, let’s sing a song to keep morale and sanity up.”  
“Yes, a song will do…”  
“…Sing, sing! My little pawns… ”  
“Oh god, I heard it!” squeals Shadow, her face turning pale.  
“Let’s just keep going through the maze, it’s probably not a mean voice, it might be helping us!” suggested DarkSkies  
“… Just come this way… ” beckons the voice again, this time coming from a path.  
“I think it wants to lead us out of the maze!” exclaims Wizshark, connecting a few dots in his mind.  
“Well then, let’s go that way!” HadiesStar dashed in the direction of the voice.  
“Wait up, HadiesStar!” shouted the group as they chased after him through the maze.  
“Um… I don’t think this is such a good idea…” Mosspath paused as they caught up to HadiesStar. “It might be tricking us…”  
“Oh shut up,” Wizshark growled as they continued down the pathway of the maze. “It’s probably leading us out.”  
“Then why is it calling us it’s ‘little pawns’?” Mosspath retorted, slowing her pace to fall behind.  
“Good point,” DarkSkies commented and slowed down. “Why is it calling us it’s ‘little pawns’?”  
HadiesStar barely thought before he answered the question. “Maybe cause we are it’s pawns, wait… what— WE ARE IT’S PAWNS!? NO! RUN!” He started backing away from the path just as they entered a cave.  
“Hehe… you seven amuse me!”  
“AH!” HadiesStar yelled.  
“Calm down little pawns! You are hilarious! Hahaha!”  
“RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” HadiesStar shouted again, this time running away from the path and bumped into a sidewall.  
“Hmm…” Wizshark peered inside the cave. “I wonder who’s in here…”  
“SHUT UP! GET OUT OF HERE!” HadiesStar had recovered from his fall and shouted at Wizshark.  
“Oh, hi!” Wizshark had looked in the room and saw a small dark figure outlined against the pale light   
“Hi there!” SilentStrike exclaimed, waving at the dark figure that rose up and started waving it’s hand. “Who are you?”  
“SHUT UP! He’s Shunmasterwong, my brother!” Darkskies bellowed at SilentStrike.  
“A friendly greeting, is it not?” Shunmasterwong greeted Darkskies as he glared at him.   
“Sure…” Darkskies back slowly out of the entrance. “BYE!” He bolted and ran out of the path.  
“Bye, ‘my little pawns!’ Have a nice day!” Shunmasterwong waved at him, grinning evilly and pulled a lever in the wall, revealing a lava pit right in front of Darkskies.   
“Um, cool swimming pool!” HadiesStar exclaimed as DarkSkies looked in horror at the pit.  
“SHUT UP!” Darkskies snapped at HadiesStar. “IT’S A TRAP!”  
“No, its a swimming pool,” agreed Shadow. “Fire mages are immune, to an extent, to their own powers.”  
“Oh, well… PROBLEM SOLVED!” Mosspath rose on Nightstar, who was standing nearby the cave. Darkskies climbed on as the others also mounted into the air.  
“BYE SUCKER!” Darkskies threw back a parting insult to his brother. “NICE MEETING YOU!”  
“You too!”   
“Okay, so where’s Zadimus Bloodgod?” Mosspath asked once they were out of there.  
HadiesStar shrugged. “He could be anywhere.”  
“If you must know, I am not just Shunmasterwong, he is also a pawn. I believe we have met before, along with SilentStrike…”  
“IT KNOWS MY NAME!” shrieked SilentStrike, “…um, and it’s also not gone yet?”  
“WAIT! It said something about us meeting it and you at the same time. Who else did we meet with SilentStrike?”  
Everybody thought for a minute, while the voice sadistically taunts them.  
“Um… PolarChris, and the Forest Sage?” Mosspath guessed randomly.  
“And me!” shouted Wizshark, obviously just distracting the group.  
“Just ignore the voice, we’ve gotta find Zadimus Bloodgod.”  
“YOU MEAN ME!? I AM SO HUMBLED!” booms a mocking Zadimus Bloodgod coming from the end of the maze. “HOW ABOUT I MAKE A DEAL WITH YOU SIX. I WILL SIT RIGHT HERE AT THE END OF THE MAZE. IF YOU CAN FIND ME WITHIN… 30 MINUTES, I WILL LET YOU HAVE THE FIRST SIX STRIKES, THEN IT’S FAIR GAME!”  
“I AM Hades! You CANNOT keep me in this maze forever. I WILL escape sometime.” shouts Hades (the god of death) from the other side of the maze. “YOU SIX! TAKE THREE LEFTS, SEVEN RIGHTS, TWO FORWARDS, AND A RIGHT, AND YOU WILL BE NEAR THE EXIT.”   
“I don’t know if it’s worth following. Who knows, it could just end up being a trap,” Mosspath pointed out.   
“I think she could be right,” shrugged Shadow.   
“Well, I think this is the only option available. It could very well be a trap, but there are no better options,” Wizshark announced staidly, or at least trying to act serious.   
“I don’t know about you, but I want to go meet Hades!” shouted HadiesStar, already approaching the first left on HallowFire.   
“I’m following him,” SilentStrike calmly told Wizshark, directing Flame after HadiesStar. With that the rest of the group followed after HadiesStar, down the never ending confusion that is the Maze. Right as they turned down the last left they nearly bumped into the shadowy form of HadiesStar, laying down on the cold hard ground. Darkskies halted the group and dismounted, slowly walking towards HadiesStar.   
“No, no, no. Not yet. Touch him and you’ll regret your choice.”  
“Shunmasterwong! Enough of these games!” bellowed Darkskies in and authoritative manner. He then slowly helped HadiesStar up to his feet. HallowFire approached, worried for it’s master.  
“Is he dead?” retorted Shadow. Darkskies stared at her, annoyed. “Oh, so that’s a no.” Shadow seemed disappointed.   
“When the day of treachery reaches an end, so will your head!”  
HadiesStar, now aware of his surroundings once more, gulped in fear of the voice.  
“But I like my head,” HadiesStar whined.  
Darkskies, feeling HadiesStar was not feeling like his usual sarcastic self, stated, “You know what? It looks a little bigger from up close.” HadiesStar, confused, stared at Darkskies, who held a hand to his head.   
“It was a joke, HadiesStar,” Mosspath pointed out, bewildered by HadiesStar confusion.   
“That’s not the way to tell a good joke Darkskies,” SilentStrike said in a self confident manner. Darkskies stared at him.  
“Oh really,” he stated. “How might one go about telling a good joke then?” he continued.  
“You guys!” Mosspath shouted. The two stared at her.  
“Hades is waiting!” She continued. As they started to get ready to continue the long walk towards Hades with their pets staying at the corridor waiting for them after they returned, Darkskies could have sworn he felt something, something evil, creeping ever slowly up his spine.   
* * *  
The group stood in fear, with all that’s between them and Hades, and possibly Zadimus Bloodgod, being a wooden door. Wizshark looked at the door.  
“Well, it’s locked, we tried, so let’s get out of here.” Wizshark quickly turned around and walked away. Darkskies stood in front of his path. Wizshark put his hands up.  
“Why me? I’m not a professional lock picker!” Wizshark complained. Shadow approached the door and opened it.   
“It was unlocked the whole time, Wizshark,” Shadow stated, annoying Wizshark severely. His temper nearly exploded on the brink of him shooting a giant ice spike at her. Luckily, he didn’t.   
“Let’s-a go-a!” shouted SilentStrike, sounding like Mario and pretending his finger was a mustache.   
“You do know a good joke.” Darkskies nodded. SilentStrike fistbumped Darkskies.   
“Who’s going first?” Wizshark asked. They all stared at him, assuring him who’s going first.   
“Fine, but I’m not going to like it and if-” Wizshark was saying until HadiesStar suddenly brushed past Wizshark, causing him to stumble and nearly fall.   
“HadiesStar! Don’t you charge past me,” shouted a charging Wizshark. Their echoing voices could be heard after sometime.   
“They never learn, do they.” Mosspath shook her head exasperatedly in a rhetorical question, walking after the two. Suddenly, Darkskies felt like something was behind him.   
“Come on, let’s go Darkskies,” SilentStrike urged and Shadow suddenly stepped back.  
“Hey I’m important too, you know,” Shadow told SilentStrike, waving a hand in front of him the whole time.   
“Yeah, I just need a minute to prepare my, um… knight stuff,” Darkskies replied, stumbling throughout the sentence. SilentStrike stood with his arms crossed. Shadow just shrugged and walked down the hallway.   
“I said go,” Darkskies urged, looking around him. SilentStrike eventually agreed reluctantly to follow the group down the hallway, leaving Darkskies alone.  
“When the day of treachery comes to an end, so will your head!” echoed from behind Darkskies. He turned around. He saw the body of his brother, Shunmasterwong.   
“Why are you tormenting me?” Darkskies asked exasperatedly in a murmured and defeated voice.   
“When the day of treachery comes to an end, so will your head!” Shunmasterwong repeated.   
“Why!” Darkskies shouted.   
“When the day of treachery comes to an end, so will your head!”   
Darkskies suddenly took out a dagger from his pocket but realized something. Why wasn’t he sensing his brother’s mind? He then remembered something Shunmasterwong had said. ‘If you must know, I am not just Shunmasterwong, he is also a pawn. I believe we have met before, along with SilentStrike…’   
“CAW CAW!”   
Darkskies realized something important, something he must deliver to his group. He must tell them—  
“CAW CAW CAW!”   
Then it all went black. His body fell limp on the floor. The door to the entrance closed.   
“Everything is going according to plan,” boomed a deep voice, the voice of someone who could overthrow the Titans, the voice of someone who could summon a thousand demons, the voice of Zadimus Bloodgod.


	11. The Pit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Idiots are still going insane in the maze

The group was sitting down in a small corridor, drinking some ale and healing themselves from the recent fast paced battles.   
“Where’s Darkskies? I swear it seemed like he’d only be gone a couple minutes,” asked SilentStrike. Suddenly Darkskies came down the hallway.  
“Sorry, I was away longer than I said I’ll - CAW,” he spat out. Mosspath stared at Darkskies, not believing him.   
“Are you feeling okay?” Mosspath inquired, narrowing her eyes at him.  
“Yeah, I’m great,” he replied, just stating the facts and not joking or making sarcastic comments like he usually does. Mosspath crossed her arms, wondering what got into his head. He doesn’t sound like his usual self.  
“Okay, then answer these questions: What’s your brother’s name and who was Wizshark’s master?”  
“Uh… ‘Bro’ and um… i?” stuttered out Darkskies, “No, no! It’s uh… Shun…maestro— and… Bladimus Gooddog?” The strength of Zadimus’s name was not working correctly because it was screwed up.  
“Hm… What’s wrong with your head!?” Shadow exclaimed, surprised by Darkskies’ brain damage.  
“Uh…” Darkskies muttered. “Nothing…?”  
“Uh, huh.” HadiesStar rolled his eyes sarcastically. “Right…”  
“Look, there’s nothing wrong with me. Hades is behind that door so all we have to do is open it,” Darkskies announced as he moved towards the door. Shadow and Wizshark moved into the front of the door, blocking Darkskies.  
“Who are you?” Mosspath asked.   
“You already know that—” exclaimed Darkskies.  
“CAW!”  
Suddenly, Darkskies was rushed away from the scene.   
“Why’s he going that way?” Shadow wondered out loud.  
“Because he’s a NOOB!” HadiesStar shouted in a mocking voice. Then, the floor below them fell.   
“And you said he was a noob,” Wizshark accused as they were tumbling down the bottomless pit.  
“Nice weather we’re having,” SilentStrike commented absently, trying to stay vertically straight with his arms crossed during the fall. Shadow and HadiesStar imitated his position and started scolding Wizshark.  
“Do your homework! Only if you eat all your vegetables. You are a disgrace to your family!” they exclaimed at Wizshark.   
“Stop telling me to do homework when we’re falling down a never ending pit!” he complained. He crossed his arms. “You’re not my mother.”  
HadiesStar took out his ale. He tried pouring it in a ramshackled cup but it just flew up into his face. Shadow and SilentStrike laughed at him. Suddenly Mosspath screamed.  
“What was that!” the rest of the group yelled in response. Mosspath looked at them with dark, piercing eyes, seeming to cut through their souls.   
“Uh, Darkskies is going to die?” SilentStrike stared at her.  
“No, no, no, no, NO! He’s not going to die, not today. As long as there still an arrow in my quiver, he’s still alive,” SilentStrike opposed with so much conviction and dignity that Wizshark was about to cry.  
“That was beautiful, but you have already run out of arrows in your quiver… Anyways, I wish you were my friends since the beginning of time,” weeped Wizshark. HadiesStar thumped him in the back of the head.  
“OW! What was that for?” Wizshark choked in a hurt tone.  
HadiesStar grinned evilly.  
“You guys, Darkskies is going to die and you’re slapping each other,” SilentStrike told them, in a disappointed manner. He reached over and snatched rope from the back of HadiesStar’s pack. He looked around at his surroundings. He reached for another piece of rope in his pack. He threw it at Mosspath.  
“Tie this around the group. Make sure it’s tight,” SilentStrike ordered. Mosspath shot a questioning glance towards SilentStrike, but only received a wink in return. A few moments of rope-tying later and they were all attached, including SilentStrike. He grabbed a spare grappling hook he kept for no apparent reason in his pocket and tied it to one of his arrows and tied the arrow with the really long rope to his bowstring, making sure it would still fly for some time until it grappled onto a ledge or something.   
“Spikes!” Wizshark shouted. He saw a series of sharp spikes below.   
“Let’s hope this works!” SilentStrike added as he shot his arrow, which hit a ledge.  
“Yes! It worked!” he exclaimed. Suddenly they started to swing forward into a large cave near the bottom of the seemingly bottomless pit. They landed onto the hard floor with a thud! Wizshark immediately started kissing the earth.   
“Sweet, sweet ground. Oh, it’s good to be back.”  
“You’re back in black,” SilentStrike said with a smile.  
“Now, we’ve got to go save Darkskies, so are you with me?” SilentStrike said in a omnipoint voice.   
“We are!”  
“What did you say?”  
“I'm never going to let Darkskies forget about this,” HadiesStar muttered to himself.  
* * *  
“What do you want with me, Zadimus?” Darkskies asked, hanging upside down from a cave, rocking back and forth above a pit of hungry demons.  
“I don’t need you, I just need your disappearance,” Zadimus grinned evilly, making him feel like the most unimportant thing in the world.   
“Then why am I still alive?” Darkskies asked, puzzled by the answer.  
“Your dear old brother, Shunmasterwong, my new apprentice, wishes to have a little, ah, family reunion, you might say,” Zadimus mocked in a malevolent tone, laughing maniacally afterwards. Suddenly he left through a portal, leaving the eerie chant of Shunmasterwong to be heard.   
“When the day of treachery comes to an end, so will your head!”  
“Stop with the chant bro, it’s freaking your dear old brother out,” Darkskies stated, trying not to annoy him.   
“It’s not your head, dearest brother, for I’ve realized the path that must be taken, a path without that devil Zadimus.” Shunmasterwong surprised Darkskies by saying this.  
* * *  
“We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz. We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of—” SilentStrike was chanting at a jaunty jog down the cave tunnel before he was rudely interrupted.  
“Shut up!” Wizshark yelled, showing his annoyance from the last twelve times he exploded. HadiesStar jumped at the commotion.  
“Can you stop doing that, I dropped my ale!” HadiesStar complained, looking at his ale that fell on the ground.  
“And you said I was the one who always complains,” Wizshark murmured, loud enough for HadiesStar to hear him say it with his smirk on his face.  
“…said the one who burst for the thirteenth time,” HadiesStar mocked, imitating the way Wizshark said it. The fight continued for many more minutes until Mosspath finally stopped the arguing. They jollily walked down the tunnel, or at least tried to with Wizshark and HadiesStar arguing. Then they reached their first hurdle, a dark cavern of endless length with the choice to climb the ladder up to the top layer or follow the bottom path.   
“Do any of you have a candle?” Shadow asked, wearing an unknown expression in the dim of the light.   
“Who carries a candle on them?” both HadiesStar and Wizshark pondered, shocked that they, the two that have been fighting during the endless walk towards this place, a seemingly never ending path, were agreeing on something. Mosspath pulled one out of her satchel and threw Shadow a candle. SilentStrike also grabbed one from a random pocket and threw it gently at Shadow, who barely caught it and it fell about half a meter from her. She caught glances of smirking HadiesStar and Wizshark.  
“Don’t make me burn you with my—” Shadow was threatening after she picked it up before HadiesStar interrupted her.  
“Tulips!” announced HadiesStar, smirking and laughing with the rest of the group, even Mosspath.   
“STOP LAUGHING!” Shadow shrieked in a high pitch tone, causing the whole of the group to go deaf. HadiesStar, who was especially annoyed by the high pitched scream, completely spasmed out.  
“My ears! You turned them into Macaroni and Cheese. Argh… I can barely feel my head. Where’d you learn to scream like that?” asked a bewildered and dazed HadiesStar, barely standing.  
“Dandelions!” exclaimed Shadow, excited to pull the trick back at HadiesStar, but was disappointed that she was the only one laughing. SilentStrike, after managing to regain around full control of himself, realized his annoyance at these games.  
“Can you just do what you’re going to do with the candles or what?” SilentStrike asked, seriously doubting her abilities. Shadow then took the first candle and lit it, gave it to SilentStrike, grabbed the next candle and lit it as well.  
“I could have done that,” HadiesStar muttered sarcastically.  
“Doubt it,” Shadow murmured.   
“Guys, stop fighting, look, let’s divide into two teams. Me, HadiesStar, and Wizshark will go below while you two will take above. Got it?” SilentStrike ordered. They all nodded and agreed. The girls went up and the boys went straight to find captured DarkSkies.


	12. The Tunnels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wizshark actually gets some solo time instead of getting one shot ft more fall damage

“Man, they sure make these tunnels narrow or what,” Shadow explained, crawling through the tunnel.  
“I’d say narrow,” Mosspath answered. Shadow stopped crawling for a moment to look at her.  
“This is going to be a long day isn’t it,” retorted Shadow, while Mosspath stared at her.   
She was going to enjoy this.  
“Actually, it’s night time,” Mosspath corrected, staring into Shadow’s piercing eyes with her black eyes.   
“Don’t push me, or I’ll be the one enjoying this,” Shadow threatened, glaring with a sinister smile.  
* * *  
“What!?” Darkskies shouted at Shunmasterwong. He was swinging from the top of the cave, tied to it by a feeble rope that would launch him into a pit of demons, and his brother was on his side. He did not think things could get weirder.   
“The time of life will come to an era, when the fein of Darkskies loses his head!” shouted Shunmasterwong.  
“Wait, I thought you said I’ll keep my head!” Darkskies exclaimed, causing him to rock back and forth a little too fast for his liking.  
“I must go, for when the day of treachery comes to an end, so will your head!” Shunmasterwong chanted, halfway through when PolarChris and Zadimus Bloodgod entered.  
“I don’t agree with this plan.” PolarChris broadly shook his head.  
“Relax, if they pick him,” Zadimus answered, pointing towards Darkskies. “We’ll kill them then. They’ll either have a snitch in their rank, which would be useful for revealing information like who sent them, how to make their deaths entertaining, or just kill them then,” Zadimus replied with an almost pleasant voice, making it seem like the best thing in the world.  
“Fine, but I’ll still track their progress with my new and improved Tycho,” he asserted, trying to make the person who had defeated the Titans agree with him. And it worked.  
“What are they planning for me?” murmured Darkskies, extremely worried for him and his team.   
* * *  
“Are we there yet?” HadiesStar asked SilentStrike.   
“We’d probably be there if you hadn’t set a bonfire using the candle,” SilentStrike answered, showing his annoyance.  
“I need… a… uh… break,” HadiesStar wheezed through pants. He moved over to what he thought was a rock.  
“Yeeha!” yelped the rock. HadiesStar examined it more carefully and saw that it was in actually a demon.  
“I just sat on a demon!” yelled a new revived HadiesStar, ready for action. Suddenly, the three saw a swarm of the so-called rocks charge towards them for a full scale invasion.   
“Use your Mark of Hades, HadiesStar!” SilentStrike shouted over the sound of random ice spikes and rushing demons.  
“I can’t see!” HadiesStar complained, blindly throwing fireballs, nearly hitting the rest of his group with each fireball.  
“Guess!” SilentStrike shouted over the explosion of one of his special arrows.  
“I don’t want to vaporise you guys!” HadiesStar yelled. SilentStrike realized something.   
“Can you shoot a fireball big enough to light the cavern?” SilentStrike asked.  
“Already on it!” HadiesStar shouted over the chaos. In reality, he knew that there was a good 96% chance that he’d explode, but at least he’ll explode his friends. Wait, that’s not good. Then he released the flame energy, successfully accomplishing the task. Next, SilentStrike shot one arrow. He quickly put his bow away and focused on the single arrow. It rapidly moved and zig-zagged through all the demons, slicing through all their hearts before falling. HadiesStar and Wizshark just stared.   
“I feel a little dizzy,” mumbled SilentStrike before falling onto the ground.   
“That’s going to leave a mark,” Wizshark said.  
* * *  
“Wait, I think I see a light,” Shadow said through the dank smelly air.  
“Let’s hope it’s not just you seeing things,” Mosspath simply stated. Suddenly a torch lit and revealed a metal door. Mosspath recognized the familiar and annoying sound of Tycho.   
“We have to turn around. NOW!” Mosspath ordered.   
“We don’t have enough time,” Shadow replied in a desperate tone.  
“Can you burn the stone under us?” Mosspath asked, remembering the hollow sounds during the long crawl.  
“We’d plummet to our deaths!” Shadow yelled, not making sense of the foolish idea.  
“I have a feeling we’d survive,” Mosspath answered in a confident voice, trying to remind Shadow of her premonitions.  
“Oh!” Shadow got the point and starting on the job. All of the sudden, the metal door started to open.   
“Hurry up!” Mosspath urged. Shadow looked up from her nearly completed work, trying it without looking.  
“If you already know we’re going to surv—waaaah!” Shadow was asking before they fell down the hole created.   
Splash! The two girls bobbed their heads from out of the filled waterway that they had landed in under the narrow stone tunnel.   
“Told you,” Mosspath muttered to Shadow under her breath in an ‘I told you so’ voice.  
* * *  
“What do you see, Tycho?” pondered Polarchris in a inaudible voice, controlling the robotic eagle with a remote control in his hand. He quickly steered it around down the narrow tunnel as if he’d been born for it. He noticed that the sound sensors installed in Tycho had heard a small splash from behind?  
“Tycho shouldn’t be hearing things from behind? All that’s behind is a tunnel and the nest I designed for you. What are you hearing?” PolarChris wondered while turning Tycho around. Then he saw it, a small hole in the narrow tunnel floor.   
“Good thing Zadimus allowed me to view their progress, because they’re closer than expected,” PolarChris remarked in a maniacal and sinister voice. “This is going to be too good,” PolarChris announced quietly to himself, walking towards his eagle riding equipment.  
* * *  
“Is SilentStrike okay?” Wizshark asked, showing his humanity.   
“Yeah, but he’d be screwed if I didn’t carry some of this ambrosia, although he can’t have a lot since, you know, he’s not a skilled mage like me,” HadiesStar answered, making himself seem like the hero of the story.   
“Hello! I’m a mage too you know,” Wizshark told HadiesStar, getting really sick of the poor treatment he’d been receiving.  
“Oh, yeah!” HadiesStar remembered, appearing as though he’d simply forgot for a little while.  
“Well, I’ll go scout the surrounding area to see if any of them demons survived,” Wizshark offered, eager to have a meaningful excuse to wander off for a while.   
“Go ahead, I got him,” HadiesStar assured Wizshark.   
“Yes,” Wizshark murmured quietly to himself.  
* * *  
“Man, it’s pretty dark down here,” Wizshark told himself as he peered down a cave.  
Maybe I should turn back while I can still see HadiesStar’s light, thought Wizshark.  
“No! They’re not going to treat me as I deserve, so why should I keep running back to them?” Wizshark quietly argued with himself. All of the sudden, a small little demon jumped on Wizshark’s back.   
“Get it off! Get it off!” Wizshark was shouting while trying to grab the demon that was choking him. He was walking backwards, into the cave, trying to slam it into a wall. Then he lost his footing and fell, but did not hit the ground for he walked into a pit with a swirling pool of dank, dark water. His back slammed into the bottom, luckily, the demon cushioned his fall. He managed to stand up after some time and saw a torch on the floor, barely generating light but just enough to allow him to light a spare in his pack.   
“That was luck. Let’s just hope there aren’t any more of the little critters,” Wizshark noted to himself. He continued down the narrow pathway. Eventually he started to hear noises. Then those noises turned into murmuring. Then the murmuring became audible. He stood stock still and tried to make out what he heard.  
“Zadimus, Zadimus… of a thousand… families… swearing… they’d… regret the day they met Zadimus,” whispered the voices. Well, that doesn’t sound right, I mean, he’s not even a father, thought Wizshark, wanting to get in closer. As he tried to approach, a pebble slipped under his foot and the whispering voices became aware of his position.  
“Who’s there? Is it you, Zadimus, master?” questioned the confused echoes of the whispering voices.   
“No, but I know Zadimus,” answered Wizshark, wishing that sentence wasn’t real.   
“A person who knows Zadimus? He found us. He found US! Must not alert Zadimus, must kill the intruder, yes!” came the echoing voices, slowly drawing near.  
“No! I’m a friend!” Wizshark shouted, trying to convince the voices to spare his life.  
“A friend of Zadimus is no friend of ours,” replied the voices. How can you make some old lunatics believe that his intentions were not harmful? wondered Wizshark. Then it hit him. Master. These people were Zadimus’ old apprentices. Wait, how long had these people been hiding from Zadimus, pondered Wizshark. If these people, who’d been hiding for so long, couldn’t escape Zadimus, then what chance do I have!  
“We’re coming to get you. You cannot escape us. Hahaha! We’ve escaped you Zadimus, you know we have. We’re your slaves no longer!” shouted the voices, which seemed right behind Wizshark.  
Why did I betray Zadimus, why have I joined this ineffective cause? wondered Wizshark, whose morals were falling apart. Then, Wizshark saw one of the voices, an old feeble man wearing tattered clothing with an old and ancient quiver. He had a bow held and strung in his feeble, quivering hands. Wizshark, determined to join Zadimus again, readied himself. The old man just released his arrow, which missed Wizshark by a long shot.   
“Oh, you’ll never escape Zadimus,” Wizshark quietly threatened, wearing a familiar maniacal grin.   
“Ahhg!” shouted the impaled man, who fell silent as quickly as he shouted, falling limp on the floor, shattering the impaled ice spike.  
* * *  
“Where are you going, PolarChris?” Darkskies asked, noting that PolarChris was holding something.  
“Killing your friends,” answered PolarChris in a calm, confident voice.   
“What did you say?” Darkskies asked, not believing him while acting stupid.  
“You heard me,” PolarChris replied once more, taking a moment to enjoy the conversation. Then, a giant portal right behind PolarChris opened.   
“Where do you think you’re going?” asked an angry Zadimus, glaring at PolarChris.   
“Oh, you know, um…” PolarChris was saying before he was cut off.   
“I SAID NO KILLING THEM! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?” shouted Zadimus in a voice louder than the Titans.  
“Fine, but their progress is increasing, the two girls were right in front of Tycho’s cage before they broke the ground beneath their feet and miraculously survived,” PolarChris announced.  
“That is troubling, but there will be no killing until my plan is a success,” Zadimus informed PolarChris.  
“Fine, but I’ll separate them and harass them first, to slow down their progress,” proposed PolarChris. Zadimus in turn nodded in agreement.  
“You’re scared,” Darkskies announced, loudly enough for Zadimus to hear.  
“You realize I can go over and snap you like a twig right now,” Zadimus Bloodgod stated sarcastically and matter-of-factly, showing his authority.  
“But you won’t. Your plan won’t work in that case, will it?” Darkskies observed in a self confident manner with a smirk. Zadimus clenched his fist and slowly turned around. Then he rapidly turned back and slammed his fist into Darkskies, giving him a bloody nose, which was dripping into the pit below filled with the hungry demons. Darkskies eventually regained control of himself.  
“You think that’s going to stop me?” Darkskies snapped in a loopy attitude. Zadimus smiled and chuckled along with PolarChris.   
“No, but that will,” announced the sinister giant, pointing towards the rope, which just made a snap sound. Darkskies exerted all the force in his body to turn up and see the rope. It was nearly snapped.  
“Here, you’ll need this,” shouted PolarChris, throwing Darkskies’ sword towards him. Thankfully, Darkskies caught it.  
“I’m not going to kill you, at least not yet, but do you really think that I can destroy your team without you? If anything, you’re slowing down the process of their death. So you better survive, cause those demons haven’t been fed in a while,” Zadimus stated broadly, chuckling as Darkskies fell down, waving his sword and slashing the demons.  
* * *   
“Come on. We need to find the rest of the group,” explained Mosspath.   
“We’ve been walking backwards for ages. We probably went the wrong way,” whined Shadow, speaking her mind.  
“No, I’m not giving up now,” Mosspath mentioned in a self-assured voice.  
“Am I seeing things or is that a bird?” considered an exhausted Shadow. Mosspath looked to where Shadow was pointing.  
“That’s no bird. That’s Tycho. And it’s mounted,” Mosspath replied, still even more exhausted.   
“Come on, we’ve got to run away. No way we can take that thing while it’s mounted,” Mosspath explained, trying to run away with Shadow.  
“We can’t outrun it,” Shadow murmured, already drowsy from the jog. Mosspath scanned the area.  
“There!” Mosspath exclaimed, pointing towards a small cavern too small for Tycho to fly through.  
“Tut tut tut, What do we have here…” asked the familiar voice, coming from PolarChris. “Trying to escape? We’ll see about that, TYCHO! GO!”  
“Mosspath! The voice WAS PolarChris!” exclaimed Shadow.   
“You two really are amusing…” PolarChris chuckled darkly, charging towards them on Tycho.  
“Quick! Get into the cavern!” Mosspath ordered.  
“He’ll get us before we go inside!” Shadow shouted, holding her hands over her head.  
“Hello! I’m still here!” cackled PolarChris as he got dangerously close to the two, nearly inside the cavern. Mosspath accidently tripped, allowing Tycho to catch up to her, and a portal opened beneath her.  
“No! Mosspath! PolarChris, what did you do!?” exclaimed Shadow, deciding to fight instead.   
“I’m entertaining myself…” PolarChris cackled maniacally as Mosspath disappeared inside the portal, quickly followed by himself and Tycho.   
“NO!” Shadow charged at PolarChris, only to have him disappear behind the portal after Mosspath.  
“Where should I go now? I’m all alone… again,” echoed Shadow in a desperate voice, trudging along with her shoulders slumped down and her thoughts down in the dumps.  
* * *  
PolarChris emerged from the portal, with Mosspath tumbling below landing on a nearby ledge. He landed his eagle majestically and dismounted, slowly approaching Mosspath.  
“What do you want, PolarChris?” Mosspath spat, annoyed at the frustration he was causing her. He leaned down towards her ear and whispered into her ear.  
“Tell me a riddle and I’ll take you to your friends, or will I?” whispered a deceitful PolarChris.  
“I don’t know any,” stated Mosspath, rolling her eyes. PolarChris angled his face to stare directly into her frightened, dark brown eyes that were almost black.  
“What a shame, I was hoping I could at least mentally wreck you before I fling you off this menacing ledge,” murmured a maniacal PolarChris. The robot version of Tycho walked over and gently picked up Mosspath in its metal beak and rocked back and forth, increasing velocity until releasing Mosspath. Splash!   
“I was hoping for louder splash,” PolarChris muttered, disappointed. He stood up, stretching his legs, and moved decisively and precisely with accurate speed towards Tycho.   
“Come on Tycho, we have more work to do…” PolarChris mumbled, deviously plotting a precise and maniacal plan.   
* * *  
“Wait… oh good! He’s gaining consciousness again!” HadiesStar shouted, as SilentStrike slowly moved his head towards him.   
“What happened?” SilentStrike asked, confused at his surroundings.   
“Stuff,” HadiesStar vaguely answered.  
“Stuff!?” questioned SilentStrike, outraged at HadiesStar’s ‘specificness.’ “What do you mean by ‘stuff?’”  
“‘Stuff’, as in too long of a story right now,” replied HadiesStar even more vaguely. “Let’s go to the center by teleporting!” SilentStrike shrugged, obviously satisfied by HadiesStar’s answer and followed HadiesStar to the center.  
* * *  
Mosspath’s luck was running out. First, she had found PolarChris, was thrown into a pit of water that sent her to another level of the maze, and had been separated from everyone else. She thought about this as she rounded the corner, running into a room made of solid ice.  
“Woah!” exclaimed Mosspath, looking around. In the corners of the room, there were piles of ice. In the back corner, there was an archer, frozen in a sleeping pose.   
“Another? He must have hypothermia,” she muttered to herself as she used one of her arrows to chip off the ice from the frozen archer.  
“Now where’s HadiesStar when I need him?” She looked around at the archer who was frozen stiff, wishing for a fire that could melt the ice off.  
After Mosspath made a few unsuccessful attempts at creating a fire, the archer finally warmed up after about 20 tries.   
“Who are you?” Mosspath asked as the archer sat near the fire. In response, the archer raised his bow, strung an arrow, and shot at Mosspath, the arrow whizzing through the air.  
* * *  
Shadow felt like she was going in circles, like this waterway was just some other maze of Zadimus’. Or maybe of PolarChris’… She didn’t even know anymore. “Hello…?” she called carefully, “Anyone?”  
“Oh, ho, ho, but you aren’t alone, little pawn…” answered the voice that was PolarChris’.  
‘Oh no…” Shadow thought out loud. “I-I didn’t m-mean that actually! Go away! Don’t make me doubt the group even more…” Shadow pleaded.  
“Oh, you mean that silly ol’ PolarChris? Nah, he’s busy, It’s just you, me, and this unstable waterway that could collapse at any moment! Oooh, the suspense!” the voice overly-enthusiastically responds as stones started falling from the low ceiling.  
“What!?” Shadow jumped back as a boulder ga-dunked into the water next to her. “Get me out of here!” She tried to run in the waterway, not really getting anywhere.  
“Hehehe, I’m going to need more popcorn!” the voice boomed mockingly with a hint of insanity and evil joy.   
“Nooooooooooooooooooo!” Shadow screamed, as the room collapsed.


	13. More Deceit and Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mosspath has family issues ft. more daddy issues from HadiesStar

“Hehehahahoho,” laughed the sadistic voice.   
“Who goes there!?” wondered PolarChris, unnerved to hear another speaker. “Who are you? I haven’t heard another speaker for a looong time…”  
“Oh ho ho, I’m not here to play games, I am here to ruin your day…”  
“And how do you think you are going to do that?”  
“POLARCHRIS!” boomed the voice of the feared, Zadimus Bloodgod. “DID YOU HAPPEN TO KILL A MAGE ABOUT-” Zadimus motions with his hands, “-WEE BIG, MAYBE PART OF THE PARTY, AND GOES BY THE NAME OF SHADOW!?!”  
“What!? No! You already yelled at me not to, and another speaker is plotting to ‘ruin my day’ somehow,” PolarChris reasoned.  
“AT LEAST THE SHADOW TRAITOR HAPPENED TO HAVE A FULL 3 LIVES, OTHERWISE YOU WOULD BE DOWN ON YOUR LAST!” Zadimus threatens.   
* * *   
Mosspath barely missed the arrow by half an inch, and it skidded out of the room, bouncing off walls through the maze.   
“Who are you?” asked the archer.  
“I asked you that first! Now tell me who you are!” Mosspath demanded firmly.   
“Fine! I am an archer,” the archer started, “my name is Luxo.”  
Mosspath stared at Luxo, stunned at hearing that name, it seemed so long since she heard it.  
* * *   
“Ah!” exclaimed SilentStrike, tumbling down a small incline. He tried to get up, but winced in pain at his broken ankle.   
“Why does this hurt so freakin’ much!?” he swore to himself, cursing under his breath. Then he looked up, seeing that he had fallen right into the center of the maze.  
Suddenly, a hydra appeared and shot acid at SilentStrike, all of its 9 heads hissing in outrage.  
* * *   
As HadiesStar rounded the corner, he could start to feel the temperature decrease. He summoned his flame armor to keep him warm and kept running. He turned the corner into a room that was pitch black, except for the lava running through the floor in random places. In the corner there was a man, wearing all black with tortured faces popping up on his shirt. HadiesStar immediately recognized the man as Hades, Lord of the Dead.  
“Hello, my son,” greeted Hades in a welcoming voice. “I’m sure you haven’t come for the family reunion, correct?”  
“My lord.” HadiesStar said, bowing to the man.  
Hades laughed. “No, no, none of those formalities. I know what you want; let us go to the center.”  
HadiesStar thought this was going too well. Usually a god demanded a sacrifice for their services. He knew, though, to accept quickly, before the god changed his mind. He grabbed onto Hades' hand and they slipped into darkness.  
* * *  
Shadow moved her leg from the pile of stones that buried her under the waterway. The stones had trapped her under them so she couldn’t go anywhere, and she needed food, badly. A stab of pain shot through her leg as she dislodged it from the pile of grit that held it down.  
“Hello? Anyone there?” Her voice came out raspy and hoarse when she called. “Help! Anyone?”  
When no one answered, Shadow stood up, wincing at her left leg that seemed fractured. Finding a straight set of sticks from the grit that fell from above the waterway, she set them against the leg, binding it with a bit of cloth.   
“Ok, this feels a little better,” Shadow sighed, thanking her father for teaching her to make a makeshift cast.  
“Kay, now where to go?” Shadow wondered out loud. She took off to the left, which had a dim light coming from the end.  
The waterway seemed endless as she limped towards the light, that seemed to be getting dimmer as she near towards it. When Shadow was about to give up at the point of exhaustion, she found what was at the end of the waterway, where the light came from. She had never seen something so beautiful.   
“Tut, tut, tut! Look what the cat dragged in! Or rather, trapped in!” PolarChris shouted, standing on Tycho when the eagle mount passed the boulders above the exit. He immediately slashed the boulders, causing an avalanche before exiting through a portal.  
“But, but, but…” Shadow stammered, all hope extinguished, all chances of survival seemingly diminished, finding no hope for her light at the end of the tunnel vanished, her knight in shining armor denying her and eternity of what she secretly craved: friends.   
* * *  
Wizshark was sitting down, scrambling his hands over his hair.   
“That’s impossible! How could I… oh, I see. Yes if I… Oh this is too good to be true! My master will be, wait, but what if he… no, of course he will. I’ll just have to avoid, oh but they will not… but… no! Now is not the time for crazy thinking! My mind has been complicated enough by that hopeless cause. I would’ve swallow my pride, choke on the rinds, but the lack therefore would’ve left me empty inside. I would swallow my doubt, turn it inside out, but find nothing but faith in nothing!” Wizshark rambled until standing up with renowned strength in Zadimus Bloodgod.   
* * *  
“Is it really you?” Mosspath choked out in a grief stricken voice, images of burning buildings houses, and the worst day of her life.   
“It is,” Luxo stated, not nearly as emotional as Mosspath.  
“I never meant to—” Mosspath was quickly saying, in agonizing pain before Luxo interrupted.  
“She never made it out,” Luxo stated abruptly. Mosspath gasped in horror. Her eyes slowly teared at the thought of her sister not escaping the burning end to her wonderful childhood.   
“So, you’re an… archer?” Mosspath stated, staring at the quiver. Then she remembered something. Baby Luxo was destined to become a Mage, not an archer, although she just remembered that now. Luxo just nodded his head. Mosspath backed away.   
“Luxo was destined to become a Mage, not an Archer… What cruel person would—” Mosspath stopped at mid sentence, not realizing the obvious.   
“PolarChris!?” Mosspath stated, horrified at the fact.  
“No! It’s me,” Luxo replied.   
“No! No, no, no, no, NO! This can’t be happening!” Mosspath turned away from Luxo before running away.   
“My brother really is dead…” Mosspath told herself, realizing the horrors that dwell in the maze.  
* * *  
“Where did you get all of these demons?” asked DarkSkies.  
“It’s a little hobby I do when I’m not trying to kill somebody,” replied Bloodgod.  
“Oh, interesting. Could you possibly help me with these?” asked DarkSkies, trying to get friendly with Zadimus.   
“Sure. Wait, what? No!” exclaimed Bloodgod.  
“Darn. At least I tried,” muttered DarkSkies.  
“And failed,” Zadimus taunted within DarkSkies earshot.  
“Hey!” yelled DarkSkies, still chopping up heads.   
* * *  
“Finally!” Luxo shouted, seeing the blur of Mosspath running from him.   
“Whoops,” he realized he just said it too loud, too late. He had no other option but to continue the chase. He turned down the corridor and noticed that it led to a big open chasm.   
“Stop playing these tricks!” Mosspath shouted through tears, already ready with an arrow strung and pointed at Luxo.   
Things just got a whole lot worse, Luxo thought.   
“Tell me why you’re doing this!” Mosspath yelled with a wibbly wobbly arrow pointed in his vicinity.   
“It’s me,” Luxo announced, stepping forward to her, pushing the arrow aside with ease. Mosspath dropped the bow and slowly sat down, leaning on the wall behind her.   
“I know you’re not Polarchris because you would have killed me, but I don’t understand,” Mosspath stated, still sobbing slightly.  
“I don’t fully understand it at all either. All I know is that my adoptive family heard rumors of an archer heading to Refugee Bay and I knew what I had to do,” Luxo simply explained. Mosspath showed a face of puzzlement.  
“How could you have heard that?” Mosspath wondered.  
“Apparently that archer and her group of loyal servants, or at least that’s how I heard it, were captured by the nearby cavern refugee system of, um… something, and then escaped, leaving nearly everyone dead. They were poking too much around in our trees and chopped way to many down anyway,” rambled Luxo.   
“Where did you live than?” Mosspath asked, gleaming with curiosity.   
“There was a nearby ranger society. That’s why I learned the skills of an archer instead of a mage,” Luxo told her, happy to reveal this to an outsider for once.  
“What do you know about your childhood on Refugee Bay?” Mosspath asked, wondering what he knew.  
“That’s a long story. Luckily, we—” Luxo was announcing before Mosspath cut in.  
“We don’t have time. I got friends to save. We could talk on the way if you like?” suggested Mosspath, happy at the turn of events. Luxo nodded in agreement.  
* * *  
“Yes! I finally slayed all the demons,” shouted DarkSkies, with renewed energy. He was jumping in triumph.  
“Ready for the next batch?” Zadimus asked, staring Darkskies in the face with a big, old smirk.  
“What?! That’s insane! How am I supposed to survive that!” Darkskies complained.  
“You don’t,” Zadimus simply deadpanned.  
“If the rest of them don’t get here soon I’ll kill them. At least, if I’m not dead,” Darkskies murmured, annoyed at the trouble he was having today.  
* * *  
“Ahhhh!” SilentStrike yelped as he jumped down a narrow hole, too small for the Hydra’s head to get in.  
“Just my luck that I run into the hydra. I mean, who even puts a hydra in maze?” whined SilentStrike. He continued to crawl down the opening until it got tall enough for him to stand, or at least get into a better position.   
“Oh great! A dead end. Just my luck,” SilentStrike announced, yelling over the annoyance of the hydra, some distance away from SilentStrike by now, which was still trying to stick its head inside.   
“Well, at least this section is big enough for me to stand and enjoy what great luck I’ve been having,” announced a sarcastic SilentStrike, looking around the small chasm. All he saw was a rock and a small ditch that he could sit in.   
“Well, at least things couldn’t get any worse?” SilentStrike murmured with confidence, not knowing how things could get worse. All of the sudden, the rock slid and fell down a concealed pit.   
“That doesn’t seem too—” he was muttering with even less confidence, hovering over the pit, before…   
“What is a horde of demons doing down a pit?!” shouted SilentStrike, stamping his foot in annoyance. He started pushing the oncoming horde down as fast as possible.  
“Well, at least they’re not— oh who am I kidding! Things could get a lot worse, I don’t know how, maybe it could happen like— whoa! I need to stop jinxing it!” SilentStrike complained as a demon yanked him by the foot into the pit, his voice getting ever softer.  
* * *  
“Thanks for picking me up, Hades,” HadiesStar thanked, nearly snapping his neck from his huge head by staring up at the god as they were walking, a little confused at why they didn’t stop.  
“I know you know that I didn’t demand a sacrifice. That’s because I’ve come to talk,” Hades stated in an echoing voice, swirling towards HadiesStar. HadiesStar gulped in fear.  
“Look, Hades, if it’s about the mark, well, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” HadiesStar announced in a nervous voice.  
“I gave it to you as a blessing, and you used it to escape me. All my demons incinerated, Cerberus whimpering in fear, and worst of all, an escaped student,” Hades scolded HadiesStar.   
“Look, I couldn’t stand it!” HadiesStar was complaining.  
“NO!” bellowed Hades.   
“When I saw you coming down the lines of the dead, I sensed talent, and I took you in as a son. When you passed your final test, you were granted that mark as a blessing. Then you escaped and used that mark to accomplish it. When you heard my voice in this maze, you were expecting forgiveness, but I was expecting a mark back,” announced the all powerful god.  
“No, it’s not what—” HadiesStar was arguing before Hades interrupted him.  
“Since you were my star pupil, I’ll give you a choice: stay alive to help your friends today and spend the rest of your afterlife in torture, or come with me now and become my student for the rest of the afterlife. I would make you a God yourself!” Hades tempted. HadiesStar just shook his head.  
“If I only have today to help them, then we better go to the center soon enough,” HadiesStar announced. With that, the annoyed God and the soon to die student teleported.  
* * *  
“I wish I had some art supplies,” wished a bored Shadow, who only had minimal food left.   
“Should I just give up on my friends?” wondered Shadow. Suddenly, a giant portal above her head opened up.  
“Tut tut tut! What do we have here? A sad misguided mage? Someone looking for new friends, perhaps?” announced PolarChris.  
“I won’t give in PolarChris, they’re going to rescue me,” Shadow stated confidently. “I hope,” she murmured.  
“I heard that!” PolarChris announced, ticking off Shadow even more.  
“Well, if you ever get too lonely, you know who to call,” PolarChris announced steering Tycho back towards the portal.  
“Ghostbusters?” Shadow asked, getting the last word in.  
“Ignore PolarChris, we don’t need to worry about him,” announced a maniacal speaker.  
“Who’s there?” retorted Shadow.  
“Your savior,” announced the sinister voice.  
“What do you mean?” wondered Shadow.  
“Ah! Do I have to spell it out for you?!” said the maniacal voice, obviously annoyed.  
“No,” she stated simply.  
“Don’t worry, I’ll rescue you, since your little friends obviously can’t,” echoed the distressing voice.   
“They’ll come for me, I know it,” gulped Shadow.  
“You don’t seem too confident,” reported the voice  
“They’re coming for me and I know it for they’re the most reliable friends I’ve had in a long time, and if they say they’re going to be here, they’re going to be here!” Shadow shouted, surprising the voice.  
“What, do you expect them to come tumbling from the sky or— dear lord!” questioned the voice but stopped abruptly, surprised yet again by the unexpected sound of HadiesStar shouting as he fell down, flat in front of Shadow, from the sky. He rolled himself over to face her.  
“Nice weather we’re having,” he announced through agonizing pain.  
“You came! Though I must say you’re the last person from the group I expected to come save me,” Shadow exclaimed.  
“Yeah, now let’s get out of here, we need to find the rest of them,” he directed through clenched teeth.   
“Here, take some of your ambrosia and we’ll be on our way. Who knows, maybe we’ll see dandelions,” pondered Shadow, handing the ambrosia to HadiesStar.   
“Better. Though I think you mean tulips,” HadiesStar told her, feeling renewed and standing.  
“Dandelions,” Shadow countered.  
“Tulips.”  
“Dandelions!”  
“Tulips!”  
“DANDELIONS!”  
“Oh can you just shut up already,” muttered HadiesStar grumpily, extremely perturbed.  
“Dandelions,” whispered Shadow, who had moved to the spot where she had seen light before PolarChris came and she started to melt the rock.  
“I heard that,” whispered HadiesStar, nervous for tomorrow.   
* * *  
PolarChris felt the gentle rush of air against his cheeks as he glided about the maze cavern. “So much work, and so much falling apart,” thought PolarChris. First his screw up with Zadimus had ruined his plan of treachery, the fact of the new speaker was still in question, but despite all of that he was determined to enact some revenge for the damage they had caused on poor, poor Tycho.  
“Don’t worry Tycho, revenge comes first, we overthrow Zadimus later,” PolarChris murmured to the eagle.  
“Wait a minute. Shunmasterwong hasn’t been seen for a while, and the speaker could easily be him. But wait, he doesn’t possess that much potential. He must not be working alone. The only other person is, but can’t be, but oh it is, the Maze Master. Time to pay a little visit, Tycho,” Polarchris realized, before flying into the portal he created.  
* * *  
“The others don’t suspect a thing?” asked the Maze Master, sitting in a dimly lit room, tied to a chair with his hands bound behind his back  
“They don’t, Bloodmoon,” Shunmasterwong replied.   
“Excellent,” answered the maniacal Bloodmoon, slowly rubbing his hands together.  
“Zadimus will be overthrown. I’ll expect them to accept you for helping. I know how hard it can be, spending nearly the whole of your life in a single place, though your’s seems to be a bit more… harsh, shall we say. But the weather seems good. No snow!” Shunmasterwong rapidly announced, eager to stop the impression that he has given himself.  
“Don’t worry for me, I’m connected with the maze, I AM the maze,” he replied.  
“Okay, I honestly don’t see why they should, for we’ve arranged everything according to that fein’s plans,” Shunmasterwong stated, feeling anger rush through him.  
“We’re not here to kill him, merely undermine him and trap him in this maze,” Bloodmoon countered, revealing his plans for Bloodgod.   
“What do you plan to do once you escape this maze?” wondered Shunmasterwong. Bloodmoon only smiled.  
“What would you?” he replied simply, rephrasing the question.  
“Valid point,” Shunmasterwong answered. He moved out of Bloodmoon's visibility, but he could feel him there. He pulled out a table with a map and dots on them.   
“This is where Zadimus believes they are.” Shunmasterwong pointed, indicating to a bunch of blue dots, traveling directly towards the demon pit which Zadimus planned to trap them in.  
“This is where they actually are,” he pointed towards a series of red dots, leading towards the secret entrance Bloodmoon had kept from Zadimus, which led directly behind where Zadimus would stand to watch as they entered into the demon pit.   
“Everything is according to plan except for the mage, Shadow, she is still with the group. I was hoping to get rid of her as to not risk the chance of being recognized! No matter, I’ll have to disguise myself. I also sense ShadowWing disturbing the one they call SilentStrike, but he will most surely not tell ShadowWing from other hydras, or most surely won’t think his intentions were harmful. I mean, he just was hungry,” explained the diabolic Bloodmoon.   
“Let’s just hope you were right about them not knowing any— “ Bloodmoon was explaining before PolarChris walked in.  
“Ah hah! I knew it!” PolarChris announced, while dropping something, feeling he could earn much redemption from Zadimus for revealing this plan to overthrow him.  
“Shunmasterwong, it’s not your fault, just make sure he doesn’t remember any of this,” Bloodmoon demanded.  
“Already on it,” he replied, hypnotizing PolarChris so he wouldn’t remember whatever snippets he heard.  
* * *  
Splash! SilentStrike bobbed his head out from the small pit. He grabbed and arrow hidden from his ankle and strung it on his bow, then attempting to navigate in the dark.   
“I can’t take this,” he quietly muttered, breaking the top of the arrow and picking up a rock from the floor. He then grabbed a torch from his back and attempted to light it. After a couple of tries, the torch lit and he found out that squishing sound that he thought was water or something similar was actually a bunch of dead demons.  
“Just another lucky day,” he whispered sarcastically. He watched his step and continued down the path.   
“SilentStrike. I know you’re here,” stated an eerie voice, creeping behind him. He rapidly turned around and saw—   
“Wizshark?” SilentStrike gasped in astonishment. Wizshark looked like he went mad while he was away from the group.  
“Well, at least I’m not the only one who’s having a bad day,” SilentStrike murmured.  
“I realize you worked for Zadimus, and I’m offering you a chance of redemption,” Wizshark offered coldly.   
“You okay, man?” SilentStrike asked, wondering why Wizshark would want to return to that monster.   
“Yes. In fact, I’m more than okay. I’ve realized the flaw in the band of failures,” pointed out Wizshark, explaining his true feelings for the group.  
“Ah, yeah. So let’s just go, um, compromise or something once we survive this maze cause, believe me, I’ve had some harsh times in here,” SilentStrike continued on, unsuccessfully convincing Wizshark in that terrible manner, “but if you still believe he’s going to get your parents back, that’s perfectly fine with me.”   
“It’s a yes or no question. You can either join me in redemption or die stopping me,” Wizshark bitterly, and almost emotionlessly, retorted.  
“I can’t. That devilish monster would only make life worse,” SilentStrike admitted.   
“Then you’re against me,” Wizshark challenged, readying an icicle.   
“Yep. Hey, you think you could give me a five second head start?” SilentStrike asked, getting ready his bow and arrows.  
“Sure. Wait, what am I saying?” Wizshark questioned, allowing SilentStrike to get away.  
* * *  
Shunmasterwong was interrupted from hypnotizing PolarChris when a smoke bomb went off.  
“Well, well, well, I had a hunch that the only speakers would be ‘special’ cases, Bloodmoon, and Shunmasterwong. Why not we join together? It’s kind of hard to hold a double-life, why not join together and take out Zadimus?” PolarChris tried using a hypnotisation process of his own, to attempt to convince them that he is a friend— at least for now.  
“Uh, okay?” Shunmasterwong responded in monotone.  
“FOOL! ATTACK POLARCHRIS!” shouted the Maze Master.  
“Listen to me, Shunmasterwong. You must kill me, and PolarChris will go away!” shouted PolarChris, knowing that the voice sounds exactly the same when used by anybody, but also was fully aware that it sounds different compared to who is listening. PolarChris continued his attempt in tricking Shunmasterwong into thinking that Bloodmoon told him to kill himself.  
“Uhh, what!? Alright… WHO IS WHO?” shouted Shunmasterwong, the smoke not yet cleared.  
“Keep shouting! It will clear the smoke!” PolarChris suggested using the voice, noticing the cracking sound, and sound of rocks sliding. Before the smoke totally cleared up, PolarChris left the room with, “I’m sure we will know who is who afterwards!”  
* * *  
“What is that ruckus?” questioned the bellowing voice of Zadimus Bloodgod. He walked slowly towards the noisy corridor when he saw that smoke was exiting the room.  
“What is smoke doing in my secret underground lair?! POLARCHRIS!” yelled the Bloodgod. He then saw Polarchris emerge from the smoky room.   
“POLARCHRIS! What have you done to the Maze Master?!” he bellowed, staring down Polarchris. He returned it with a sinister smile.   
“Sir, you won’t believe what I’ve found,” Polarchris responded, plans of redemption floating in his mind.   
“Show me,” Zadimus announced. he followed Polarchris and leaned down and peered into the room. “I don’t see anything except the Maze Master,” Zadimus announced, pulling himself up to his face.  
“What!?” Polarchris shouted, leaning and then peering into the room. He saw Shunmasterwong and stockpiles of boulders inside the room. That devious Maze Master, with his illusions and mind tricks.  
“This is the last time you disappoint me,” Zadimus announced, walking down the hall to Darth Vader music, with Polarchris plotting to eliminate the Maze Master and his disciple once and for all.  
* * *  
“Can you stop shooting your dang icicles at me?” SilentStrike asked, narrowly ducking from an icicle that would have pierced his throat. He eventually saw a stairway up to the next level of the maze. Now if only he could reach it without becoming impaled... He quickly zigzagged up the stairs, ducking when Wizshark noticed his pattern was predictable, then quickly changing it.  
“How about you stand still?” shouted Wizshark, trying to distract him. “Ooh! Look at that! It’s a target I bet you can’t hit!”  
“Where?” SilentStrike asked, tripping over a rock, becoming unconscious.  
“Hehehe,” Wizshark murmured, slowly approaching SilentStrike’s limp body when he heard voices from the level above.  
“Yes! We finally got out of that stupid waterway!” announced one of the voices in joy, with Wizshark recognizing it as the arrogant voice of HadiesStar.   
“Hey, wait, is that Wizshark? Hey Wizshark! Wait, is he preparing to— DUCK!” HadiesStar announced as he realized what had happened.   
“I’m gonna get you!” Wizshark announced, attempting to do awesome backflips and insane ninja moves up across the stairs until he finally reached HadiesStar level, while really he kept falling on his face, while everyone cracked up at him.   
“Hey, Wizshark!” SilentStrike yelled, back on his feet. Wizshark turned around and merely laughed.  
“You’re out of arrows!” Wizshark replied, laughing at SilentStrike’s surprised look.  
“But I have some,” Mosspath threatened, emerging from the cave with a strange archer who looked really tough.  
“Are you ready?” Wizshark asked, his voice echoing across the caverns as the battle began.


	14. The Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A filler chapter y'all can skip this

Wizshark shot volley after volley of icicles at the group, while they returned fire, quite literally with Shadow’s firebolts and HadiesStar’s fire spears.  
“Hey! No fire spears!” shouted Wizshark in a pouting manner  
“Then you can’t use that icicle machine gun of yours!” shouted Shadow, as Wizshark’s ice machine gun’s 6 barrels slowly stopped spinning, the spot where he was shooting was littered with icicles.  
“Hmm, I see your point. Fine! Lv.3 or lower spells, fire spears and icicle guns being Lv.4,” Wizshark reasoned, “and you guys can argue while I hammer you with icicle after icicle!”  
“SNAPDRAGONS!” Shadow screeched, shattering incoming icicles along with stunning everyone else, She took that opportunity to run up to Wizshark and start hammering him with firebolts.  
“Ow, ow, ow, ow!” Wizshark raised an ice wall defence  
“Hey! Defence spells are Lv.5!” shouted HadiesStar, powering up a fire spear  
“Stop talking and fight already!” shouted DarkSkies  
“I am!” shouted HadiesStar, with that, they all fought for a good, long time with their silly lvl.3 spells, before Shadow simply ran into the middle of all the fire, literally and figuratively.


	15. The Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group literally just takes an elevator out of hell after somehow killing Zadimus

“STOP!” shouted Shadow, waving her arms between the two sides. “THINK ABOUT IT! ZADIMUS BLOODGOD IS USING US AGAINST EACH OTHER! Wizshark, remember when you stood defiantly against ZADIMUS, stating that he was lying about bringing your parents back? Remember that! He is pure evil! think about it, he can’t bring anybody back from the dead! Not even Hades can!” Shadow explains, then finishes off with a punch to the face like HadiesStar did, and the same bright light blinded the group as he lit up with the light of turning evil to good.  
“What was I thinking!?” shouted Wizshark, remembering exactly why he had abandoned ZADIMUS BLOODGOD. “This is not me!”  
“That’s what we’re trying to say!” yelled HadiesStar into Wizshark’s ear.  
“Guys, I’m so sorry! I don’t know what got into me!” apologised WizShark, regretting his choices.  
“Let’s get out of here. There is an elevator in the direct center.” Mosspath started moving towards the corner.  
Beep…beep…beep….  
“Anyone hear that beeping noise,” asked Shadow, as the group walked towards the elevator  
“I think it’s a bomb,” HadiesStar replied, glancing around the room. “And if it is we need to leave. Fast!”  
The group started into a run. Suddenly a person ran into HadiesStar as the group passed a crossway.  
“DarkSkies, is that you?” asked HadiesStar cheesily, standing up.  
“Yes,” replied DarkSkies.  
“Where were you?” demanded Mosspath.  
“No time to explain, the maze is going down. My brother already escaped and Luxo and Bloodmoon are nowhere to be seen!” yelled DarkSkies.  
“How do you know Luxo?” asked Mosspath.  
“Not important!” yelled DarkSkies.  
“Okay,” Mosspath whimpered.  
The group reached the elevator and got in. When the elevator reached the top there was a sign telling anyone who exited the maze to go to a bunker 1 mile away.  
“I think Bloodmoon knew this would happen,” explained DarkSkies.  
“How?” asked SilentStrike, surprised by the turn of events.  
“Uh, he would then trap us in the bunker, possibly gas us, and then wipe it clean off the face of the Earth?” Shadow randomly guessed.  
“…Er, I’d rather not,” Mosspath answered, leading the group in the opposite direction. A BA-KOOOOF and a series of hollow, rocky crashes can be heard as the maze collapsed hundreds of feet under them from the bomb’s explosion.  
“Um… Maybe we should go to the bunker now,” HadiesStar suggested awkwardly after the bombs subsided.   
“Good idea!” replied DarkSkies.  
The bombs started exploding again.  
“Hurry!”   
“I don’t think we have enough time!”  
“We always do!” SilentStrike shouted before he whistled. Suddenly Hallowfire and Flame appeared above the crowd with the rest of the animals. They quickly hopped onto Hallowfire, mostly due to Flame carrying an annoyed kitty cat hiding under a giant, fat bear.   
“Why do I have to be carried by the dragon’s claws?” Wizshark complained. The group shot him icy looks.  
“Because it’s my dragon, Mr. You turned evil and are still untrustworthy,” HadiesStar countered, increasing the tension between Wizshark and the group. With all of them prepared to fly they set off for the sky, quickly followed by an explosion igniting the world below in seemingly endless fires. They high fived each other as they set out back towards Father Bryon, not caring that they didn’t save the princess. PolarChris, freed from his enslavement by Zadimus Bloodgod, returned to his original, generally neutral affiliation, and three lightning strikes fell to the earth (despite the clear sky), marking the eternal death of the once-powerful Zadimus Bloodgod, and removing the taboo from his name.


End file.
